Anthony Albanese takes fight to Facebook in new Labor manifesto

Fake news, lying politicians, assaults on democracy and decisions to go to war among Anthony Albanese’s targets.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese in Canberra on Thursday. Picture: AAP

Anthony Albanese will take on Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for allowing politicians to get away with lying and fanning anger and misinformation, as he ramps up his push for greater press freedom and tougher standards for tech giants.

Speaking at the Chifley ­Research Centre in Sydney on Saturday, the Opposition Leader will also propose opening up to parliamentary debate any decision to send Australian troops to war. “Our parliamentarians should, at the very least, be given the chance to express their view following a cabinet decision to go to war,’’ Mr Albanese will say, citing Bob Hawke’s decision to allow two days of parliamentary debate after his cabinet decided to join the first Gulf War.

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“We can’t ask people to put their lives on the line if we as legislators are too afraid to put our ­arguments on the line.’’

The third of his key vision statements will address the state of Australian democracy, and ­laments the declining quality of public debate.

Mr Albanese warns that civil discourse is being undermined by a rampant culture war and heated disagreement over issues such as climate change. Key democratic institutions are now at risk of being used as forums for combat rather than co-operation. 

Facebook comes under attack for its decision not to filter out content proven to be wrong, with Mr Albanese to accuse the tech giant of failing to meet community standards and contributing to a more complex media landscape threatened by the rise of “deepfakes” and misinformation.

“Mark Zuckerberg says he thinks people should be able to see what politicians are saying. But what happens when it turns out that what politicians are saying isn’t real at all?” he will say. “This increased volume of anger and misinformation is robbing our political debates of civility and making the public’s poor opinion of our political system much, much worse.

“It’s something we can’t afford. Surveys are finding that fewer and fewer people are satisfied with the way our democracy works and that some are losing faith in democracy altogether.”

Mr Albanese attacks online platforms that are unwilling to filter out proven misinformation.

“They’ll argue that it doesn’t ­violate their community guidelines,” he will say. “They say that so long as they eventually note the information is fake, the community can judge for itself.”

Mr Albanese will reveal how men’s rights activist Leith Erikson doctored a social media image from the Labor leader’s own page last week to advance his crusade against the Family Court, and will lash Facebook for not changing its rules to prevent this type of conduct. “When we raised this with Facebook, they shrugged. They said it wasn’t a breach of community guidelines,” Mr Albanese will say. “This is a far-right candidate, creating a fake graphic fraudulently purporting to be from a progressive party, and Facebook sees no issue. Well, I do.”

He will also draw attention to a fake Nancy Pelosi video circulated by Donald Trump supporters this year, warning that people were having their views shaped by “deepfakes”. “The artificial intelligence technologies capable of doctoring video so effectively we’re unable to distinguish fake from real are becoming more ­effective as time goes on, and as we edge closer to each election.”

Mr Albanese will say democracy cannot afford the increasing prevalence of such misinformation.

Calling for Australia to rebuild its capacity for constructive ­national debates, he will take aim at the problem of social media “echo chambers” and urge progressive voters to make their arguments to broader audiences and engage with those who disagreed.

“When progressives retreat into our comfort zones, we cede the ground we should be claiming,” he will say. “Genuine political discourse and problem solving is discouraged. Alternative views are not just dismissed, they’re not even considered.”

The Labor leader will also ­reaffirm his support for major ­reforms including a constitutionally enshrined indigenous “voice” to parliament, a republic and a ­national integrity commission.

Mr Albanese will argue that the Coalition has moved to clamp down on democracy in several ways. “When the Prime Minister says ‘quiet Australians’, what he really wants is silent Australians. That we should all just shut up and listen to him. He wants Australians to be silent about their future because he knows his policies won’t stand up to public scrutiny.

“Why else would the government threaten people who have the courage to speak out to protect the welfare of their fellow citizens? Journalists raided by police, with prosecutions not fully ruled out. Protests labelled secondary boycotts so they can potentially be outlawed.

“Union offices raided after the TV cameras have been tipped off, and unions threatened with deregistration.”

Mr Albanese will say Australia should become a republic but the issue should be addressed after first settling the constitutional recognition of indigenous Australians — a proposal not supported by the Morrison government.

“The most urgent and pressing issue is to create a First Nations voice to parliament, consistent with the historic Uluru Statement from the Heart,” he will say. “Our policy is clear. We support the Uluru Statement in its entirety, including a referendum to enshrine a voice in the Constitution, and that is the position we will pursue.”