STATEMENTS BY SENATORS

Senator ANTIC (South Australia) (13:36): The exposure draft of the Labor government's Digital Duty of Care Bill was released yesterday, and it is much worse than we first thought. It is nothing more than another attempt by this government to censor free speech in this country. The bill purports to place a sweeping legal obligation on providers of social media, search engines, messaging apps, AI tools and a host of other online services to ensure 'a safe online environment'.

That's the language used. In practice, this means that platforms are going to need to take steps to minimise exposure to broadly defined categories of harmful material and conduct, and the minister can decide what is actually harmful. It's truly concerning that this incursion into free speech can even be suggested.

It creates powerful incentives for overcompliance. Faced with civil penalties, potentially running into tens of millions of dollars, companies are simply going to err on the side of caution by removing or suppressing borderline but lawful speech rather than risk enforcement action by our eSafety commissioner. The reality here is that the online environment, including platforms like X, has finally given Australians the ability to communicate without fear of censorship, and the political establishment, particularly that of the Left, doesn't like it at all.

This bill will chill free expression for Australians, who are increasingly sceptical of institutional narratives on culture and politics. Rather than confront the substance of those arguments, the government is attempting to regulate the architecture of free speech itself—all in the name of safety and all in the name of our children. What an absolute disgrace!