Senator Lidia Thorpe confirmed on Tuesday she will oppose the federal government's Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation Bill, saying there are major problems with the legislation in its current form.
The Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung senator said there are "real problems" with misinformation and disinformation in Australia, but the proposed law as it stands is not the solution.
"I am no stranger to the problems around misinformation and disinformation. False information about me is routinely published in mainstream media and spread online. And First Peoples are commonly the targets of racist misinformation and disinformation," she said.
"Just look at the public discussion about the Voice, the genocide in Gaza, and the reality of colonisation in this country. You can see how misinformation, including from governments, is weaponised against marginalised people.
"These are real problems that First Peoples know well. But this Bill is not the solution."
The independent senator said the legislation's "broad and vague definitions... allow too much scope for suppression of dissenting voices".
"We have to ensure that political dissent, protest and Truth-Telling are not suppressed or censored," she said.
"I have concerns that this bill could stifle First Nations voices that challenge systemic injustice—be it through advocacy for land rights, resistance to oppressive policies, or critique of colonial governments."
Senator Thorpe said the Bill relied on "white-dominated institutions" to regulate what constitutes truth, which would would "further erase, suppress and misrepresent First Nations narratives and activism".
"Neither ACMA nor overseas tech companies are appropriate arbitrators on questions of 'truth'. ACMA lacks First Nations expertise or advisory roles. This agency is not fit to regulate content that relates to First Peoples," she said.
"We need much stronger transparency and regulatory measures for tech companies. We know their profits are built on exploiting and amplifying harmful and divisive content that damages marginalised communities. This legislation gives these companies too much discretion to decide what is and isn't misinformation, and doesn't require enough transparency."
Senator Thorpe said social media and telecommunications companies should be made to disclose how data is collected, used, and shared, and how their algorithms work.
"Platforms must be required to obtain consent before using peoples data and ensure that communities can control their data, particularly First Nations communities. First Nations data sovereignty should be respected," shje said.
"Ultimately, we need to establish a Digital Rights Act and a Human Rights act in this country, and before we have those rights enshrined, we need to be very careful with any legislation like this."
More to come.
