The Albo-rithm: the most dangerous algorithm is the one controlled by government

George Orwell imagined a world where the state did not merely control what people said, but sought to control what they could think.

More than 75 years after Nineteen Eighty-Four, we have something Orwell could never have imagined: almost every Australian carries a device that puts the world’s information in the palm of their hand. We can reach across the world, hear different views, challenge what we are told and make up our own minds.

Yet the Albanese Labor Government is now proposing to put itself between Australians and that information.

Labor calls its proposal a ‘Digital Duty of Care’ and says it is about keeping children safe online.

Every parent wants their children to be safe online. But protecting children cannot be used to justify giving the Government power over what Australians see, read and discuss online.

I have been inundated with emails and phone calls from people across Dawson who are angry about this legislation. They are angry that the Government wants a say over something that should never be in its hands: what Australians see, read and discuss online.

The Government says the framework is about making platforms responsible for foreseeable harms and giving Australians greater control over algorithmically curated content.

But there is a world of difference between giving you control over your own feed and giving a minister power over what platforms must do with the information they provide.

One puts the power in your hands. The other puts more power in the hands of government.

But then the Prime Minister said the quiet part out loud.

This was sold as a law to protect children. Yet in New York, Anthony Albanese was talking about misinformation, disinformation and political polarisation, saying digital technology affects “our entire society and how it functions”.

There it is.

This is no longer just about protecting children. It is about Government deciding what information Australians should be exposed to.

That is Government overreach. And Australians are angry about it.

This is exactly why the Coalition has rejected this legislation in its current form.

Because no government should be handed a blank cheque to decide what Australians can read, see and hear.

That is how political censorship starts, with a government deciding which information is harmful, which views are dangerous and which conversations need to be controlled.

Orwell understood where government control of information can lead. He knew that when those in power control what people know, they can start controlling what people believe.

Labor says it wants to give Australians more control over algorithms. But the answer cannot be to give the Government more control over what those algorithms show us.

That does not give Australians more freedom. It gives the Government more power.

Labor has replaced the algorithm with the Albo-rithm.

And that is not a joke about the Prime Minister. It is a warning about the power of the office.

Today, the concern may be misinformation or polarisation. Tomorrow, the definitions could be broader, the political circumstances could be different, and the minister holding that power could be someone you profoundly disagree with.

A free society does not protect adults by deciding which opinions they are allowed to hear. It trusts people to think for themselves, to question, to disagree and, sometimes, to get things wrong.

Once a government has the power to decide what Australians are allowed to see, this is no longer simply a debate about algorithms or online safety.

It is a question of who controls the information Australians receive.

I will oppose this legislation in its current form because it threatens fundamental freedoms and gives government powers that could be used to restrict lawful speech, access to information and open debate.

A free country does not give its government the power to decide what its people are allowed to see, say or hear. Once that line is crossed, freedom is no longer a right. It is permission.

ENDS

Contact: Amanda Wright | Media & Communications Adviser
P | 07 4944 0662   M | 0455 456 705   E | Amanda.Wright@aph.gov.au