MISINFORMATION, DOXXING, HATE SPEECH
A series of bills aimed at misinformation, disinformation, hate speech and doxxing are set to be unveiled by the government today.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland will introduce legislation that will give the media watchdog greater powers to pressure tech companies into cracking down on misinformation and disinformation, the ABC reports. Under the proposals, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) would be given powers to hit social media platforms with penalties, including fines of up to 5% of their global revenue.
Rowland told the national broadcaster that, under the new laws, for something to be deemed misinformation or disinformation it would have to be both “seriously harmful and verifiably false”. She also said ACMA would not be given the power to take down individual posts. The proposed legislation was first released last year and reworked following criticism from the Australian Human Rights Commissioner and the opposition. The ABC says the government is hoping it can pass its reworked bill into law by the end of the year.
Also today Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus will introduce a bill aimed at cracking down on doxxing. The AAP says under the legislation people found to have maliciously released someone’s personal data online will face a maximum of six years in prison. If a person has been targeted due to factors such as race, religion or sexual orientation, the offender will receive a penalty of up to seven years behind bars. The attorney-general said the plans would give people greater control over their personal information and strengthen protections online. “Australians have a right to have their privacy respected, and when they are asked to hand over their personal data they have a right to expect it will be protected,” he said.
Guardian Australia reports a separate bill will also implement the first tranche of privacy reforms today and notes the Coalition’s position on the misinformation and doxxing bills is “unclear”.
Hate speech laws are also being introduced in Parliament by Dreyfus today, with The Age running the headline, “Labor’s promised hate speech bill will not deal with ‘hate speech’”. The paper says criminal penalties for seriously vilifying minority groups have been removed, citing sources who say the legislation has been “significantly weakened” and is now notably different to what the prime minister originally pledged. Said sources claim the bill will not use the words “hate speech” and instead focus on acts and threats of violence.
Guardian Australia claims the bill will aim to “criminalise incitement to serious acts of violence or threats of violence, likely aligning sexuality and gender with existing protections for race”.
The AFR notes the Albanese government is trying to work out how to get tech companies to pay for enforcing the raft of new laws. Paying publishers for content outside the News Media Bargaining Code also needs looking at, the paper says, with sources saying it could be a levy of some sort or a funding model.
THE DEBATE AFTERMATH
We said yesterday the US presidential debate would dominate world affairs for 24 hours, so it’s only right we take a look at the aftermath of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump’s Philadelphia showdown.
With the majority of outlets declaring Harris the winner, it was hardly a surprise the vice president’s team was quick to declare she was keen for a second debate, while Trump told Fox News he was “less inclined to” after what he called “a great night”, CBS News said.
At present the two sides have yet to agree to another debate and there are now only 54 days until the election. The Washington Post notes the first ballots have already gone out in Alabama and other states are not far behind. The vice presidential debate featuring Democrat Tim Walz and Republican JD Vance on October 1 in New York may well be the only other debate we get between now and November 5.
Taylor Swift endorsing Harris has unsurprisingly created plenty of column inches and social media chatter, although as many conservative voices, including Trump, were quick to point out — it was not wholly unexpected. “She [Swift] seems to always endorse a Democrat. And she’ll probably pay a price for it in the marketplace,” Trump rather ambitiously claimed. The New York Times reports Trump told Fox News he preferred Brittany Mahomes, the wife of the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and friend of Swift’s, who has been reported to have liked a social media post supporting the Republican candidate.
The Guardian picked up on the fact shares in Trump Media & Technology Group, owner of his Truth Social platform, dropped 17% Wednesday morning and pointed out the first day the 78-year-old can sell his shares in the company is next Thursday.
Another one for the diary is the US Federal Reserve’s meeting next week, with many predicting a 0.25% cut in interest rates. The meeting will be the last before the election, the AFR notes.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE…
A penguin born and raised in captivity has been found two weeks after escaping into the sea, the AFP reports.
The female Cape penguin, named Pen-chan, made her bid for freedom during an event in the central Aichi region of Japan last month. The AFP said the bird had never swum in the open sea or fended for herself, so her keepers assumed the worst when Typhoon Shanshan delayed the search.
Keeper Ryosuke Imai then received the surprising news on Sunday that the penguin had been spotted some 30 miles out to sea.
“I thought she would look exhausted, but she was swimming as usual. It was beyond my surprise … It’s a miracle,” he said.
After Pen-chan was recaptured, her keeper declared: “She lost a little weight but she is doing great.”
Say What?
In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats.
Donald Trump
During the presidential debate with Kamala Harris, the former president doubled down on his false claim that immigrants from Haiti are stealing and eating people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio, ABC News reports.
CRIKEY RECAP
The Department of Defence continues to funnel taxpayer money to Elbit Systems, the company that manufactured the drone used by Israeli forces to murder Aussie aid worker Zomi Frankcom and six others in Gaza in April.
Last week, Defence handed a $38,000 contract to Elbit Systems of Australia, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems (the Australian arm doesn’t even have its own separate website), a company with a long history of human rights scandals via its provision of weapons both to the Israel Defense Forces and autocratic regimes elsewhere. Like most Defence procurements, this one — for “Security Equipment Installation Services” — was a limited tender, meaning Elbit faced little or no competition.
Peter Dutton is seizing control of the Liberal Party’s NSW division, but local power players aren’t letting go without a fight.
At a meeting of the NSW state executive called to deal with Dutton’s ongoing federal intervention, a motion supported by Dutton’s federal team was defeated, and Crikey’s sources said Dutton’s representative on the committee, shadow treasurer Angus Taylor, “went nuts” with irritation while making his arguments.
Dutton originally wanted a three-person committee to take charge, after the NSW divisions’ failure last month to nominate dozens of council candidates for this Saturday’s local elections.
This is all in the name of protecting children from nasty things online. The prime minister — sounding a lot like his predecessor, it must be said — is talking about about how kids should be on the “footy fields or netball courts” and not online, as if to suggest that talking to someone over social media isn’t a “real” experience.
You’d think, given the bipartisan and mainstream media support for it, that this policy would be effective. That it would have support from experts. And from the people it impacts and those who represent them. That it was “evidence-based” and “follows the science”.
You might assume that, but it’s not the case.
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Donald Trump faces his own debate fallout just months after benefiting from Joe Biden’s (Associated Press)
Republicans dismayed by Trump’s ‘bad’ and ‘unprepared’ debate performance (The Guardian)
Pundits said Harris won the debate. Undecided voters weren’t so sure. (The New York Times) ($)
Rioter’s mum to pay compensation after missing sentencing for Ibiza trip (BBC)
Kremlin warns of escalation if US allows Kyiv to hit Russia with long-range missiles (Reuters)
Anthony Albanese lists $1.9m Sydney investment property (The Sydney Morning Herald) ($)
THE COMMENTARIAT
Harris excels. ABC does its job. Both were deadly for Trump — Jennifer Rubin (The Washington Post): As for the debate offering clarity about the presidential race, it certainly revealed that Harris has a truckload of specific positions and proposals; Trump has grievances, revenge fantasies and blather. If voters cannot figure out which candidate is prepared to be president, blame rests with them, not with the ABC News team.
Some pundits before the debate set a flurry of tests that Harris supposedly had to pass: Could she appeal to independents, could she appear presidential, could she show mastery of policy details? Harris did all that and more, conveying an optimistic vision that offered a dramatic contrast with Trump’s apocalyptic rhetoric.
Disregard any post-debate analysis that says the confrontation won’t matter, won’t change any minds. Harris did superbly Tuesday, and it will make a difference. Fair-minded voters will notice.
Kamala sliced Trump like sashimi, when he wasn’t doing it himself — Bruce Wolpe (The Sydney Morning Herald): The ground game is everything for Harris. Trump has a ceiling of 45-47% of the popular vote. Harris must keep him there. What is particularly daunting is that almost all the polls in 2016 and 2020 undercounted the Trump vote by two to three points nationally. In 2020, Trump won 46.9% of the popular vote; the poll averages had him at 44%. Biden won enough — 51% of the vote — to beat him.
But Harris is still short. While she’s winning back the Democratic voters who gave up on Biden, she still trails the support Biden had in 2020 from under-30 voters by 12 percentage points. She is still 10 points under Biden’s support from black voters, six points under Biden with Latino voters, four points under Biden with men, and — still — two points under Biden with female voters. Harris’ trajectory is on course, but she has not yet locked in those votes.
This debate will help her do that.
