Social media platforms such Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and TikTok now dominate what was once the ‘town square’ - the public place available to all-comers, the place where ideas were rigorously debated, impassioned political speeches made, and where discussion on controversial subjects occurred. These social media giants have today in effective privatised the old ‘town square’.
The censorship policies and the deplatforming of individuals by these social media giants has and continues to undermine freedom of speech, and present a dangerous threat to our democracy.
The social media giants have used so-called ‘’fact-checkers’’ to falsely portray themselves as the ‘arbiters of truth’, when in fact these so-called ‘fact-checkers’ offer little more than an alternate opinion.
The debates and proceedings of the Australian Parliament are protected from censorship by the Bill of Rights 1688, yet You-Tube in particular have shown contempt for Australia’s democracy and our nation’s laws by censoring the proceedings of the Australian Parliament.
Further, YouTube have threatened Parliamentarians with censorship and deplatforming if they post any proceedings of the Australian Parliament where an opinion was expressed that does not align with You Tube’s deceptively labelled ‘’community standards’’.
Open and free elections in Australia are threatened by social media giants censoring and deplatforming the political arguments and policy platforms of election candidates and registered political parties.
The censorship, secret shadow-banning and deplatforming of candidates or political parties by social media giants acting as ‘platforms’ (and not as publishers) during an election campaign, places that candidate at a competitive disadvantage to other candidates. This amounts direct foreign interference in Australian elections and poses a grave threat to our nation’s democracy.
Our history teaches us that there is no group of experts adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or criticism. Yet during the COVID period the social media giants engaged in unprecedented censorship and deplatforming of highly qualified expert medical opinion that sought to scrutinise or criticise the narrative and the press releases issued by the COVID vaccine sellers.
In particular, the social media giants relentlessly censored expert medical opinion and scientific evidence (and deplatformed medical doctors for expressing opinions) which questioned the narrative that early treatment of COVID with existing repurposed off-patent medicines such as HCQ and Ivermectin (when combined with zinc and an antibiotic and administered within the first few days after infection) was not only ineffective but dangerous and needed to be banned.
With the passage of time, and the vast volume of scientific evidence that has since accumulated, this previously censored expert medical opinion and the deplatformed medical doctors have been proven correct.
By their conduct of deplatforming medical doctors and censoring expert medical opinion & the scientific evidence on early COVID treatments, the social media giants, You-Tube, FaceBook & Twitter have prevented free and open debate on effective early treatment, contributing (in the opinion of highly qualified medical experts) to countless additional hospitalisations and deaths. There is no other conclusion that You-Tube, FaceBook and Twitter have ‘’blood on their hands’’ as a result of their censorship and suppression of debate.
Recommendations
A. Penalties under the s327 of Electoral Act 1918 include imprisonment for hindering or interfering with a persons free exercise of a political right of liberty. Consistent with the criminal penalties in the existing laws for interference in Australian elections, senior management of the social media platforms should likewise face imprisonment for interfering in Australian elections by engaging in any conduct that censors, shadow-bans or deplatforms any candidate for political office engaging in otherwise lawful political debate.
In short, if it’s lawful to say in the town square at a public meeting, it should be unlawful for foreign social media giants to censor it. And to demonstrate that as a nation that we are serious about protecting free speech and our democracy, criminal penalties are justified.
B. The Parliament , without further delay immediately pass the private members Bill, Social Media (Protecting Australians from Censorship) Bill 2022, introduced by the Member for Dawson.
This bill prohibits large foreign social media services from de-platforming or censoring lawful content by Members of Parliament, election candidates, registered political parties, journalists and media organisations on their platforms within Australia.
The bill also prohibits large foreign social media services from censoring lawful philosophical (including political) discourse on their platforms within Australia.
The bill tasks the Australian Communications and Media Authority to oversee the administration of this proposed law and the issuance of notices and fines to foreign social media services.
The bill supports the right to freedom of speech within Australia. The bill also seeks to minimise opportunities for foreign social media services to influence elections and political discourse in Australia.
Further comments
Throughout the enquiry the Deputy Chair made repeated assertions alleging that the United Australia Party had posted ‘misinformation’ online that needed to be censored. As leader of the UAP, I specifically reject these assertions. Alternative opinions that vary from ‘’the narrative’’ are not ‘misinformation’ but alternate opinions.
A wise Canadian judge has recently commented on the use of the slur ‘misinformation’ noting,
“And is ‘misinformation’ even a real word ? Or has it become a crass, self-serving tool to pre-empt scrutiny and discredit your opponent ...... A childish - but sinister - way of saying, ‘You’re so wrong. I don’t even have to explain why you’re wrong’”.
Mr Craig Kelly MP
Member
UAP Member for Hughes