CANBERRA — Australia’s Coalition party — a right-leaning partnership between the conservative Liberal Party and the rural/agricultural party The Nationals — has unveiled a legislative proposal that would mandate online platforms remove so-called "objectionable content" within 24 hours, or risk being blocked and heavily fined.
According to a report by The Guardian, under the Coalition’s proposed bill, “if a website or app ignores takedown notices for content such as child sexual abuse material, the e-safety commissioner will require search engines and app stores to block access to those services.”
“Websites and social media platforms will face fines of up to $555,000 for ignoring a direction to remove the trolling material, while individuals will face fines up to $111,000. These are sanctions already in place for cyberbullying a child, but will be extended to apply to adults.”
The Coalition’s phrasing of the legislation as to what constitutes "objectionable content" opens the door for effective state censorship of a wide array of content.
According to The Guardian, the proposed legislation “classifies cyber-abuse material aimed at adults as material an ‘ordinary reasonable person would conclude’ is ‘menacing, harassing or offensive.’”
The ill-defined “ordinary reasonable person” and “offensive” are particularly problematic for the exercise of free speech in Australia under the proposed regulation.
Australia does not have a formal Free Speech guarantee, like the American First Amendment, in their constitution.
According to the report, “a rapid website-blocking power has been added to allow the commissioner to respond to online crisis events.”
“The internet has brought great social, educational and economic benefits,” Federal Communications and Cyber Safety Minister Paul Fletcher said. “But just as a small proportion of human interactions go wrong offline, so, too, are there risks online. By establishing proper protections to help keep Australians safe online, we can in turn help Australians to realize the substantial benefits that come from using the internet.”
The legislation still needs to clear the multi-party Australian Parliamentary process. The Coalition often relies on the support of cross-bench minor parties — like the anti-immigrant One Nation Party and the Centre Alliance — and a small number of independents. The center-left Australian Labor Party, currently the opposition party, might also support the measure.
Social conservatives in Australia, including Fletcher and other members of the coalition routinely describe "violent pornography" — even if consensually produced — in the same context as sexual abuse and non-consensual videos.
Legal observers have noticed that the Coalition's "online harms" proposal seems to include certain provisions that target consensually produced hardcore content.
"Buried in the contents of the proposed new Online Safety Bill is that the new takedown notice scheme includes social media removal of RC pornography (fetish material) and X18+ content!" tweeted Jarryd Bartle today.
Main Image: Australia's Communications and Cyber Security Minister Paul Fletcher. (Photo: Paul Fletcher, MP)