The government announced on Sunday that it will not proceed with the Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024, on the basis that “there is no pathway to legislate this proposal through the Senate”.
LINA has been has been involved in consultation throughout the development of the Bill. LINA Executive Director Claire Stuchbery spoke about the role of local and independent news services in combatting mis and disinformation at a recent public hearing, highlighting Edelman Trust Barometer research to the Senate Committee:
“We see an opportunity for local newsrooms to become trusted sources of information in a bigger way than they are now to try to curb the trend of people avoiding news altogether by being essentially ‘people like us’ — people who are in the community, who are often known to the community and who are well placed to put forward validated and fact checked information.”
With or without the implementation of this Bill, there needs to be mechanisms in place to support public interest journalism, particularly the work of local and independent newsrooms in combatting misinformation and disinformation.
LINA encourages the government to act on the recommendations made by the Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society in its second interim report, as well as others that will support the sustainability and diversity of Australian news media. These include supporting the development of a not-for-profit news market in Australia through tax incentives, and LINA’s suggestion that government allocate a proportion of its advertising spend to local and independent publishers, as quoted in the social media inquiry’s interim report.
Read the full hearing transcript.