BREAKING: Independent senators to block misinformation bill
As of today, the government does not have enough votes to pass the bill
The Australian Government needs the support of half of the crossbench to pass its highly criticised misinformation bill, but today the government ran out of luck.
Four out of six independent senators on the crossbench have now announced their intention to oppose the bill: Senators Tammy Tyrrell, David Pocock, Jacqui Lambie and Fatima Payman. Newly independent Senator Gerard Rennick (formerly of the Liberal Party) had previously announced his intention to vote against the bill.
All these senators’ offices said they had been inundated with calls and emails expressing concerns about the bill - some said they had been contacted by thousands of people. Well done to everyone who called, emailed, or visited a senator in person.
The Coalition is opposing the bill, so even if the Greens vote with the Labor Government, Labor can’t get the bill across the line without these key crossbench votes.
It’s great news! But we can’t relax just yet.
As Senator Matt Canavan posted to X today, “Nothing is certain until the votes are tallied.” The Senate vote will take place either next week or the week after.
Senators who have come out against the bill should be thanked and encouraged, and ideally, undecided Senator Lidia Thorpe and the Greens can be convinced to vote against the bill to make it a safe win.
To quote Senator Canavan again, “The defeat needs to be so comprehensive that no Government thinks of trying this again.”
So now we keep the pressure on.
Email the senators who have come out against the bill to thank them, and email the ones who are undecided or for the bill to ask them to vote against it.
Independent senators:
David Pocock [email protected]
David Van [email protected]
Fatima Payman [email protected]
Jacqui Lambie [email protected]
Lidia Thorpe [email protected]
Tammy Tyrrell [email protected]
Greens senators’ contact information can be found here.
Find more information about the bill and how you support efforts to block it:
LAST CHANCE: What you can do to stop the misinformation bill
Last week, the Australian Government’s controversial misinformation bill was passed in the House of Representatives with the support of Labor and the Teals (with the exception of Teal Allegra Spender. The Greens did not participate in the vote).
Independent senators’ statements on why they are opposing the government’s misinformation bill
Credit to Senator Pocock in particular for sharing a range of alternative ideas to address root causes of problems in the social media environment, via YouTube
Senator Payman, via X
Senator Lambi, via Facebook
“After careful consideration and listening to feedback, I’ve decided to vote no on the Government’s Misinformation and Disinformation Bill.
“The spread of lies is absolutely a problem for our democracy, but this Bill, as it stands, isn’t the solution. I’ve gone through its 70+ pages with my team, talked to folks on all sides, and the message from JLN supporters has been clear: they don’t like it.
“Handing the power to social media companies to regulate ‘truth’ is risky, and I’m not comfortable with the potential negative impacts.
“We need to address misinformation in a balanced way—this Bill isn’t it.”
Senator Tyrrell, via X
“I’m voting against Labor’s misinformation/disinformation bill. Reasons why I'm voting against this in the thread below.
“Putting the responsibility onto social media companies to decide what is or isn’t misinformation in Australia is a slippery slope. The definitions of misinformation and disinformation are vague and I’m not convinced this bill can actually be enforced.
“One person’s truth can be another person’s lie, and both sides have the evidence to back up their arguments. What is and isn’t truth or the facts isn’t always clear cut - I mean, have you met politicians?
“Thousands of people reached out to me concerned about this bill. I understand the intent behind this. But it’s important to me that people feel free to express different opinions without fear of being shut down. Having conversations that challenge our views is how we grow.”
Senator Rennick, via his website
“The Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024 is very concerning. The freedom of expression is a fundamental human right that underpins all free societies, and it’s important in this digital age of social media that we stay vigilant to protect this freedom.
“The Bill gives a great deal of power to ACMA to force digital platforms to police ‘so called’ misinformation. Misinformation and disinformation are too often used as an excuse to shut down criticism and dissenting opinion online and there have been many things once labelled as misinformation that have turned out to be true.
“Trying to impose big brother type censorship is the sort of thing governments do when they want to stop the truth from getting out. Giving ACMA the power to force foreign companies to censor free speech is simply a recipe for disaster.
“The best way to counter misinformation is through respectful debate and history has shown that the censorship of speech has always been the beginning of authoritarianism.
“I will be opposing this Bill along with all forms of government overreach.”
Thank you everyone for your efforts so far. Hopefully this bill will be in the dustbin within a week or two!
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I trawled thru the Bill over 2 days....the most dangerous bit of legislation in Australian history I say...we must all write to & call these independents & praise & thank them hugely ...keep up the pressure, we are not out of the woods yet! Great work Rebekah!
Thank you for your work Rebekah, as well as the other Substackers, IPA, Spectator magazine, Avi Yemeni and other outlets who led the resistance.