Who decides what’s true and what’s not?

Hello. Russell Broadbent here – Member for Monash. This is not one of my regular Just As I See It broadcasts. It’s a plea to every Australian to understand the consequences of Labor’s plans to not only impede free speech, but to become the sole decider of what’s true and what’s false. The Albanese government plans to introduce a chilling new law to combat so-called misinformation and disinformation on social media platforms. This is nothing short of legalising state-sanctioned surveillance and censorship. In my decades of service to the Australian Parliament, I have never known such a dangerous Bill. This is a terrifying prospect and an affront to our democratic way of life. It should shock and disturb every Australian. This new law would designate unelected government bureaucrats and politicians to determine if your views are deemed ‘misinformation’ or ‘disinformation’! But wait for it… content from government agencies and educational institutions will be exempt from this legislation! This sounds like North Korea or China – not Australia! And not just that – the government will also determine the penalty or punishment, which can include massive fines and even imprisonment. This bill will allow the Australian Communications and Media Authority to compel Australian and foreign tech companies to keep records of matters relating to misinformation and disinformation, and to give this data to our government when requested. In other words, keep records of the people who say the wrong thing – whatever that is, according to the government of the day. No government should ever have this type of power or control.  Mind you, this law will simply legalise the surveillance and censorship of thousands of Australians over the past three years. Even though it didn’t get much coverage on mainstream TV, we now know the Australian government sought the assistance of foreign big tech giants to spy and report on Australians who didn’t comply with the government’s narrative on covid vaccines. And I was one of those people. Last year one of my parliamentary speeches was removed by YouTube because I violated their community guidelines – apparently because I dared to ask what might be causing Australia’s excess deaths. Doctors and other medical practitioners have had their Twitter and Facebook accounts suspended for sharing concerns about the covid vaccine’s safety and efficacy. Read the full transcript at The government is seeking feedback on their proposed “misinformation“ and “disinformation“ censorship legislation. I urge you to let them know your thoughts in the link below.