'Truth is hard to define': Pocock opposes disinformation bill

"Freedom of speech and the freedom to protest are critical parts of our democracy," Senator Pocock said, as he flagged plans to table extensive amendments to the bill.

"In Australia, we don't have an overarching Human Rights Act that entrenches these rights, so we need to tread very carefully whenever we make changes that may impact on them."

In a video posted to social media overnight, Senator Pocock said the evidence given to the Senate inquiry into the Albanese government's Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill had left him concerned.

"The truth is really hard to define and often changes over time, so there's a risk platforms could just end up unintentionally censoring people," Senator Pocock said.

The government's bill was unworkable because social media companies would be tasked with deciding "what is and isn't mis- or disinformation."

"I find it very strange that the government wants to trust these giant corporations who have, at best, very questionable reputations," he said.

"We'll be in a situation where we likely have algorithms boosting stuff based on engagement, and then another algorithm sifting through and deciding what of that is and isn't disinformation."

The Coalition has argued the bill will have "a chilling effect on freedom of speech", while University of Sydney constitutional law expert Anne Twomey says it leaves open the possibility that "contestable claims" will be categorised as misinformation.

The Australian Human Rights Commission has also flagged concerns with the bill.

Senator Pocock said there was "no doubt that mis- and disinformation is causing harm, but people are also entitled to their opinion, whatever it may be."

"We need to do better and actually tackle the root causes," he said.

He said a key failing of the government's bill was that it failed to address a major driver of misinformation and disinformation online: AI-powered bots or "non-human actors".

"Social media companies should have an obligation to remove all bots that are impersonating humans," he said.

Any legitimate use of bots, such as those used to answer questions, should be "clearly labeled as non human."

Likewise, he argued, reform was needed to tackle the way that social media platforms' algorithms "are holding attention - and therefore making money, ahead of good faith debate and social cohesion.

The government also needed to get on with its promised reforms to the Privacy Act, which "would actually go a lot further to protecting Australians online," Senator Pocock said, and more transparency around what the social media giants do with users' data.

"We should have access to data so that we can understand how platforms are seeking to influence us through what they promote and prioritise, or what they deprioritise."

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland defended the bill on Thursday morning, telling 2GB radio: "We have undertaken very thorough consultation, including a very thorough human rights assessment."

She rejected the suggestion the bill was about "minimising the amount of content" that Australians saw online, saying: "Not at all."

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"We know that 80 per cent of Australians are concerned about the amount of missing disinformation that proliferates online," Ms Rowland said.

"It's a problem that's been identified by our top spy [agency], by our top defence force personnel. Disinformation really has the capacity to cause harms to our democracy. It can often be spread by malicious actors or rogue states."

She said the platforms already had content moderation policies and were not "passive purveyors of content" under current settings.

"They are active pushers of this content. They have moderation policies that are opaque," the minister told 2GB host Ben Fordham.

"Your users, your listeners, as users of these platforms, don't know how they're curated. It's important for your listeners to have that level of transparency."