Christian Lobby Warns Legislation on False Information Could Impede Knowledge Growth
‘[It’s wrong] to provide wide capacities to suppress information and then to provide carve-outs for areas that are regarded as legitimate,’ said the ACL.
A conservative Christian advocacy group has expressed concerns about the government’s upcoming Misinformation Bill potentially hindering the advancement of knowledge, impacting society at large.
During a recent Senate inquiry hearing, Elisabeth Taylor, an independent researcher and former research director at the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL), raised questions about the government’s intention to crack down on “misinformation.”
“The misinformation of today may be proven to be correct tomorrow, or new information may come to replace current orthodoxies. This is the essence of progress,” she remarked, highlighting the dynamic nature of information.
“This progress is not solely the domain of the experts, academics, journalists, or professional religious individuals who are shielded by this bill,” Taylor noted in reference to the exemptions outlined in the Misinformation Bill.
She also emphasized that the learning process involves exposure to diverse perspectives, and it’s unnatural for individuals, such as journalists, to arrive at the truth without encountering erroneous opinions.
“We encounter various perspectives. You share your thoughts and reasoning. I analyze the evidence and formulate my own conclusions based on that,” she explained.
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“That’s how learning occurs. That’s the prerogatives of every citizen of a free country.”
Misinformation Bill is Wrong in Principle
On the same note, Taylor critiqued the bill’s fundamental flaws.
“In principle, this approach is wrong. [It’s wrong] to provide wide capacities to suppress information and then to provide carve-outs for areas that are regarded as legitimate,” she emphasized.
“I would say the problem really goes to the approach for the whole bill in principle, which is to look only at the harms caused by misinformation and not to address the problem of harms caused by the suppression [of information].”
Furthermore, Taylor criticized the religious exemptions outlined in the bill as “inadequate and stingy,” as it remains unclear what falls under the current definition of dis- and misinformation.
“So, in this case, the religious exemptions are far too narrow for a start,” she pointed out.
However, it does not specify whether religious expression would be exempted.
In late 2023, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland announced that the government would introduce new religious protections to the bill in response to the concerns raised by faith groups.
She assured that the bill would not impede religious expressions in any way.
“That would be a new area that wasn’t considered at the time of the original consultation being commenced, but it clearly is important, and we want to address it,” Rowland stated.
Questions on How Misinformation Will Be Decided
Regarding the role of Big Tech companies in enforcing the Misinformation Bill, Taylor highlighted the lack of transparency surrounding the process.
“The Australian public has very little visibility on how that is being applied,” she remarked.
“The issue with censorship is that if something is being suppressed, and you are aware of it, that’s one thing, but in this case, it would simply vanish into thin air, and no one would know that their information has not reached others or is not visible to the public.”
Under the Bill, social media platforms will need to actively monitor and censor content that might violate an agreed standard of conduct on misinformation. There are concerns that this could incentivize companies to excessively censor to comply with regulations.
