Thank you for the opportunity to make a submission on the Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024 [Provisions]
Coal, oil, gas companies, their lobby groups, high emissions industries such as internal combustion engine (ICE) cars and airlines, and their political and media supporters are using digital advertising to spread mis and disinformation, confuse the public and delay climate action.
Our primary recommendations are:
- The definition of ‘serious harm’ should be widened to include damage to the environment and climate.
- The definition of ‘professional news content’ should explicitly exclude opinion articles.
In addition, we believe that
- The government should bypass industry codes and immediately set a standard.
- That platforms should be forced to disclose the algorithms that spread mis and disinformation and what is being done to remedy this.
- That all platforms are forced to have more comprehensive ad libraries open to the public.
