The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communication and the Arts (wtf?) has kicked off a consultation process to give ACMA powers so it can "hold digital platforms to account for harmful misinformation and disinformation online", aka the Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2023. These powers would allow ACMA to "gather information" from digital platform providers about disinfo & misinfo, ask industry to develop a code of conduct that ACMA enforces and like the Online Safety Act/eSafety Commissioner, will make up the codes themselves if what industry gives them isn't what they want. The good news is that "ACMA will not have the power to request specific content or posts be removed from digital platform services" - at least not now. The slippery sloped salami can still be sliced.
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