Anthony Albanese claims to be fighting a war on so-called ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’. He recently exclaimed that ‘Australians want misinformation and disinformation to stop’ while launching a broadside at Elon Musk’s X. But, the hypocrisy is rife with these hollow exhortations.
Anthony Albanese’s war on misinformation is a sham. His attempts to suppress it amount to censorship. It is a cudgel to wield selectively and only against perceived ideological enemies. Misinformation spread by Labor’s potential allies or by his own side goes unchecked.
The hollowness of the ‘misinformation war’ is made abundantly clear by the focus on social media, something which Anthony Albanese facetiously said he would like to ban because it is a place where ‘keyboard warriors can say anything at all’.
Anthony Albanese seems to neglect the misinformation spread by ‘mainstream media’, as evidenced by the myriad successful defamation suits against various media companies. The ABC, for example, has lost several high-profile defamation cases. The notion that social media is the only source of false information is simply incorrect: courts have found otherwise.
Anthony Albanese launched his latest misinformation campaign in the wake of false rumours about the Bondi perpetrator circulating on X. These rumours were a clear problem, but they were also refuted. The bigger issue is that they were picked up by Channel 7 and reported with what appeared to be inadequate due diligence. The mainstream media amplified false information, giving it the imprimatur of credibility that it would otherwise have lacked.
Anthony Albanese seems not to care when the ALP spreads misinformation, which has become alarmingly common.
The ALP cannot be trusted about taxation and fiscal policy given the sheer number of falsehoods the ALP has perpetrated. The ALP said they were committed to the Stage 3 tax cuts. Instead, they hiked taxes. The ALP said they would not change superannuation taxation. Instead, they are increasing superannuation taxes, including an unprecedented tax on unrealised capital gains and yet another tax bracket through which to impose bracket creep.
Then there is the Voice to Parliament. Mark Dreyfus was wrong about the Voice in his Second Reading Speech, stating that it would only be able to speak to matters that ‘differently’ impact indigenous Australians. The plain text of the referendum said nothing of the sort. Anthony Albanese continued to gaslight Australians about whether the Voice was a ‘mere’ advisory body. The government equivocated about the implications of the Voice for the Treaty process. People saw through it.
The government’s disingenuous approach to misinformation is clear from the proposed Bill to clamp down on social media censorship. This Bill would attempt to deputize social media companies with policing misinformation, requiring them to create and adopt a misinformation policy. The regulator would oversee this.
Exempt from the clampdown are the government and ‘mainstream media’. The Bill effectively deems representations from the government and mainstream media to be trustworthy. Given the preponderance of ALP and Greens supporters in the bureaucracy, the motivation appears manifest. The Bill effectively lionizes government propaganda by deeming it above suspicion. It casts a pall over anyone who questions it. It is a clear information power grab.
It has now become abundantly clear that the terms ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’ are nigh meaningless. They are simply weasel words to be applied selectively. Perhaps the government is the true source of ‘misinformation’.
Mark Humphery-Jenner l Associate Professor of Finance| UNSW Business School
