Dutton wants all Aussies to hand over their biometrics to Big Brother, to ‘save the children’

Two days to hammer the Liberals to drop their support for the Under 16s social media ban, which will destroy online privacy.

When the two major parties collude to ram a new law through Parliament as rapidly as they can with no time for scrutiny, you can bet they have something bad to hide.

That’s what they’re doing this week with their new electoral reforms to rig the voting system to block alternatives to the major parties, and with the bill to ban under 16s from social media.

And that’s what they would have done with the MAD social media censorship bill too, except the backlash from Australians was so fierce the Liberals saw the writing on the wall and bailed, and now, with the Greens last Friday declaring their opposition, the MAD bill is dead.

No doubt that’s why Labor and the Liberals are ganging up to force through the under 16s social media ban so quickly—they know it was scrutiny that killed the MAD bill.

To pretend they are being democratic, on Thursday the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 was referred to a Senate inquiry with—wait for it—one day to make a submission, and two days to produce a report!

This joke of a process shows the two major parties really are the “uniparty”, and have nothing but towering contempt for democracy and engagement with the Australian people.

Big Brother

Nobody is denying there are problems with teenagers’ experiences on social media, but that has been true for 21 years ever since MySpace started in 2003.

So why is the government rushing through a response like this?

The government claims it has consulted widely on the problem, but that’s not the same as consulting on the proposed law, and how it would work.

The major parties don’t want to consult on how the law would work, because the bill they are ramming through does not include specific provisions that transparently show how the ban would be implemented; rather, it requires social media companies to devise ways to implement “age verification” systems to comply with the ban.

This opens the door to digital systems that would destroy online privacy, and expose Australians to identity risks, including theft.

On 13 June, when Opposition Leader Peter Dutton first called for a social media ban for under 16s, Natalie Barr on Channel 7’s Sunrise asked him if it would work, given other countries have tried and failed to implement a workable system.

Dutton answered: “Facial recognition to determine somebody’s age is appropriate.”

Be clear that what Dutton proposed is facial recognition for everyone, which means all Australians having to hand over biometrics to foreign-owned tech giants just to access social media.

If tech giants have it, they can monetise it, governments can get it, and hackers can steal it.

On Sky News on 18 October, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland confirmed the Labor government also proposes that age verification will involve facial recognition.

Evidence, please?

The worst part of these measures is the government has no evidence it will fix the problem, and in fact the government admits the law won’t work very well, knowing that teenagers will find numerous ways around it.

In her Sky News interview, Michelle Rowland admitted that “this won’t protect every child from every harm, every minute that they are online”, before adding, without evidence: “But it’s going to make a difference.”

One of Australia’s leading Constitutional legal experts, Professor Emerita Anne Twomey, pointed out in a post that the government’s proposed exemptions contradict their claimed objectives.

If, as the government says, one of the objectives is to reduce exposure to addictive online habits, why are online video games exempted, which are the most addictive?

If the objective is to reduce online bullying, why are messaging apps like WhatsApp exempt?

Reject the process

The internet is still in its formative stage, and the laws that are made now will be far-reaching.

That’s why stopping the MAD social media censorship bill was so important, to draw a line in the sand for free speech, which the Australian people have done—emphatically.

However sympathetic people are to addressing social media problems for teenagers, nobody should accept the bipartisan backroom dealing that is ramming this bill into law using cries of “think of the children”.

The only chance to stop this bill is if the Liberal Party drops its own Big Brother tendencies and opposes the bill alongside the Independents and Greens.

The Liberals will only do that if they get bombarded with calls and emails today and tomorrow demanding they oppose it.

What you can do

Call and email: Peter Dutton, Shadow Communications Minister David Coleman, and the Coalition Senators in your state to demand they oppose this bill.
Peter Dutton: (02) 6277 4022 peter.dutton.mp@aph.gov.au
David Coleman: (02) 6277 4501 david.coleman.mp@aph.gov.au
Liberal Senators: https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Senators/Senators_photos?party=288
Nationals Senators: https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Senators/Senators_photos?party=289
Country Liberals: https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Senators/Senators_photos?party=291