As we outlined earlier this year, recent years have seen a steady stream of government proposals to crack down on free speech online. Most of those proposals have been introduced, though thankfully the 2024 misinformation and disinformation laws were abandoned and the 2026 hate laws were watered down due to a public backlash.

Last week, the government announced their latest attempt.

As noted by Senator Alex Antic, once again it is a short-sighted attempt to censor the internet under the vague banner of safety, though they have become more cunning in their approach.

This time around the government has bundled together two different reforms. One is a fairly benign change that they are emphasising. The other a dangerous piece of censorship that they hope people won’t notice.

The Online Safety Amendment (Digital Duty of Care) Bill 2026 would do two things:

• Require social media companies to give people a choice between having information from an algorithm or a simplified chronological feed from people they follow. In most cases this already exists, but this law would make it more obvious. This policy is mostly redundant, but it’s not censorship and likely to be popular, and so this is what the government is talking about non-stop.
• Require social media to meet a vague ‘duty of care’ that would be at the discretion of the eSafety Commissar. This law would threaten companies with fines over $100 million if Australia’s chief censor determines that content on the site is too misogynistic or mean. This is the dangerous part of the legislation, but the government is hoping you don’t notice because you’re wowed by the first change mentioned above.

Bundling these two issues together is a smart political trick. When asked about censorship, the Prime Minister has repeatedly fallen back on the idea that they just want to give people a choice over the algorithm.

Of course, that’s only half of the story, but in a world of five-second soundbites the tactic might work.

There is still time to stop these new laws. Here’s what you can do:

Briefly and politely, let the government know what you think through their consultation process, with submissions due by 22 September.

Perhaps more important is to reach out to the Liberals, Nationals, and One Nation politicians, and let them know that Australians do not want any more censorship. It is essential that the opposition actually opposes these laws.

Publicly support a constitutional amendment to enshrine free speech in Australia, and support any organisations that share that goal.

The current government seems hell-bent on increasing censorship in Australia and cracking down on speech online. They have taken several steps in that direction already, but recent history also shows that they can sometimes be stopped if the public push back. Now is your chance.

This was first published to Substack. Follow and subscribe here.