Skip to main content

Site navigation

  • University of Technology Sydney home
  • Home

    Home
  • For students

  • For industry

  • Research

Explore

  • Courses
  • Events
  • News
  • Stories
  • People

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt
  • Study at UTS

    • arrow_right_alt Find a course
    • arrow_right_alt Course areas
    • arrow_right_alt Undergraduate students
    • arrow_right_alt Postgraduate students
    • arrow_right_alt Research Masters and PhD
    • arrow_right_alt Online study and short courses
  • Student information

    • arrow_right_alt Current students
    • arrow_right_alt New UTS students
    • arrow_right_alt Graduates (Alumni)
    • arrow_right_alt High school students
    • arrow_right_alt Indigenous students
    • arrow_right_alt International students
  • Admissions

    • arrow_right_alt How to apply
    • arrow_right_alt Entry pathways
    • arrow_right_alt Eligibility
arrow_right_altVisit our hub for students

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt

POPULAR LINKS

  • Apply for a coursearrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt
  • Scholarshipsarrow_right_alt
  • Featured industries

    • arrow_right_alt Agriculture and food
    • arrow_right_alt Defence and space
    • arrow_right_alt Energy and transport
    • arrow_right_alt Government and policy
    • arrow_right_alt Health and medical
    • arrow_right_alt Corporate training
  • Explore

    • arrow_right_alt Tech Central
    • arrow_right_alt Case studies
    • arrow_right_alt Research
arrow_right_altVisit our hub for industry

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt

POPULAR LINKS

  • Find a UTS expertarrow_right_alt
  • Partner with usarrow_right_alt
  • Explore

    • arrow_right_alt Explore our research
    • arrow_right_alt Research centres and institutes
    • arrow_right_alt Graduate research
    • arrow_right_alt Research partnerships
arrow_right_altVisit our hub for research

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt

POPULAR LINKS

  • Find a UTS expertarrow_right_alt
  • Research centres and institutesarrow_right_alt
  • University of Technology Sydney home
Explore the University of Technology Sydney
Category Filters:
University of Technology Sydney home University of Technology Sydney home
  1. home
  2. arrow_forward_ios ... Newsroom
  3. arrow_forward_ios ... 2023
  4. arrow_forward_ios 10
  5. arrow_forward_ios The politics of misinformation

The politics of misinformation

20 October 2023
A collage of faces some real, some contructed, of different hues

In the aftermath of Saturday’s referendum, allegations of dishonesty and bad faith are flying. Many Yes voters claim the vote was lost on the back of a campaign of misinformation and fear-mongering, while the opposition has suggested that Labor MPs use the term misinformation to disparage opinions they disagree with. Whichever side you supported, there is no doubt that misinformation was propagated by unofficial sources both off- and online.

In this context, consultation on the government’s proposed Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation Bill looks increasingly fraught. Yesterday, No campaigner Warren Mundine said that the bill was designed to silence the government’s opponents, echoing statements made by opposition MPs and some media outlets when the draft was released.

Here we might reasonably ask what effect the bill, if enacted, might have had on the Voice campaign. Would it have provided government with the means to silence opposition? And would it have stemmed the flow of misinformation on social media?

The stated purpose of the bill is not to give ACMA the power to arbitrate truth online, as some have suggested, but only to ensure that digital platforms implement measures to prevent or respond to misinformation and disinformation. If we take this at face value, ACMA would use its powers to assess whether platforms have developed and implemented such measures. It would not have the power to request the removal of online content and thus to silence opposition by proxy.

But the purpose of the bill is one thing, and its actual content another. Even if the bill does not explicitly give ACMA the power of adjudication, this possibility might be implicit in, or at least not ruled out by, the wording of the bill. A more subtle question than whether ACMA can request the removal of content is whether giving ACMA the power to assess industry compliance effectively grants it undue influence over platforms’ content-moderation decisions. Indeed, we argued in our submission, that the bill should be more explicit about the nature of ACMA’s powers, for example, by precluding the assessment of how platform practices are applied in individual cases. We also set out some deeper problems with the scope of the bill.

Would the bill have stemmed the flow of misinformation during the Voice? In a sense, this question is moot: the major platforms are signatories to the voluntary Australian Code of Practice on Disinformation and Misinformation, under which they are already required to implement measures to combat misinformation. But that doesn’t mean the bill would have no effect. Instead, by giving ACMA the power to assess code compliance, it would ostensibly promote industry accountability for the measures they put in place. But this is a long-term proposition, and one best directed at general improvement of the online information ecosystem rather than at dealing with particular instances of misinformation, an idea we also explore in our submission.

In this sense, then, both the horror and the hope directed at the bill are overstated.

Michael Davis

Michael Davis, CMT Research Fellow

Share
Share this on Facebook Share this on Twitter Share this on LinkedIn
Back to CMT news

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation and the Boorooberongal People of the Dharug Nation upon whose ancestral lands our campuses now stand. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands. 

University of Technology Sydney

City Campus

15 Broadway, Ultimo, NSW 2007

Get in touch with UTS

Follow us

  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Facebook

A member of

  • Australian Technology Network
Use arrow keys to navigate within each column of links. Press Tab to move between columns.

Study

  • Find a course
  • Undergraduate
  • Postgraduate
  • How to apply
  • Scholarships and prizes
  • International students
  • Campus maps
  • Accommodation

Engage

  • Find an expert
  • Industry
  • News
  • Events
  • Experience UTS
  • Research
  • Stories
  • Alumni

About

  • Who we are
  • Faculties
  • Learning and teaching
  • Sustainability
  • Initiatives
  • Equity, diversity and inclusion
  • Campus and locations
  • Awards and rankings
  • UTS governance

Staff and students

  • Current students
  • Help and support
  • Library
  • Policies
  • StaffConnect
  • Working at UTS
  • UTS Handbook
  • Contact us
  • Copyright © 2025
  • ABN: 77 257 686 961
  • CRICOS provider number: 00099F
  • TEQSA provider number: PRV12060
  • TEQSA category: Australian University
  • Privacy
  • Copyright
  • Disclaimer
  • Accessibility