La Trobe University Media Release

The Australian Senate is set to consider the Federal Government’s Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024* after it was introduced to the Senate on Monday.  

The Bill, which aims to tackle the harmful spread of disinformation and misinformation online, has passed the lower house without Coalition support, and has been subject to public consultation and further amendments. However, it is facing significant hurdles in the final two sitting weeks of the year, with Senators including Pauline Hanson, Fatima Payman, Jacqui Lambie and Ralph Babet saying they will not support the bill. ACT Senator David Pocock is also in serious doubt unless further changes are made, he said last week.  

*(Note this is separate from the bill related to banning social media for under 16s) 

Professor Political Communication Andrea Carson is La Trobe University’s expert in researching online misinformation and disinformation spread, its impact and potential for public harm. 

Professor Carson has just co-authored a discussion paper called Measuring, monitoring and diagnosing the impact of mis /dis information to support future (non-legislative) policy development, as part of a special six-part series with the Australian National University on strengthening democratic resilience.

Professor Carson’s paper outlines the state of the information environment in Australia in comparison to other countries, focusing on the perceived threat of misinformation and disinformation on public information quality and (non-legislative) measures to mitigate its harmful effects.