Australia Misinformation Bill (Withdrawn)
AustraliaWould have made a government regulator the referee of truth online, with platforms fined over 'misinformation' while government and professional media content was exempt. Withdrawn when the Senate votes were not there.
Latest update
Withdrawn; the Senate votes were not there
Current position
Withdrawn after passing the House
What it does
The bill would have empowered ACMA, the communications regulator, to police how platforms handle misinformation and disinformation: mandatory record-keeping, approved codes, and penalties tied to global turnover. Government communications and professional news content were exempt from the definition, so the regime pointed at what ordinary people post. It passed the House in November 2024 and was withdrawn on November 24 when the government conceded the Senate would not pass it.
Why it matters
Australia got closer than any comparable democracy to a statutory misinformation regulator, and the exemptions showed the shape: official speech protected, citizen speech assessed. The withdrawal was a vote-counting retreat, and the idea resurfaces in every DSA-style systemic-risk framework.
Our take
A truth regulator whose own government was exempt from scrutiny died of exposure, and the same architecture keeps returning under calmer names. This entry stays as the record of the version that said it plainly.
Timeline
Withdrawn; the Senate votes were not there
LatestPassed the House
Introduced in the House