On 24 November, Australia’s Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland,announced the withdrawal of bill on disinformation and misinformationdue to a lack of support in the Senate. The bill faced criticism from Australian opposition parties which saw some aspects of the bill as a potential threat to freedom of expression and a pathway to censorship.
The bill aimed to require digital platforms to manage misinformation and disinformation risks and enhance transparency in their handling of such content. It proposed a range of penalties, includingfines on online platforms of up to 5% of their global turnover if they failed to curb the dissemination of false information.