Australia: Opened consultation on draft Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2023 including content moderation regulation

On 24 June 2023, the Australian Government opened a consultation until 6 August 2023 concerning the draft Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2023. In particular, the draft bill provides definitions of “misinformation”, “disinformation” and “digital platform services”, and establishes which services will be subject to the new framework. The draft bill also brings instant messaging services within the scope of the framework. Further, the bill outlines the types of serious harm that would be considered within the scope of the framework including hatred against a group in Australian society based on ethnicity, nationality, race, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion or physical or mental disability; disruption of public order or society in Australia; harm to the integrity of Australian democratic processes; harm to the health of Australians; harm to the Australian environment; economic or financial harm to Australians, the Australian economy or a sector of the Australian economy.