âWe ask that Australia withdraw any plans to mandate that platforms algorithmically suppress content.â
The Trump admin, through the U.S. Embassy, has now made it crystal clear.
Washington would consider Laborâs Digital Duty of Care bill as facilitating censorship, on the week they pulled special access from legacy outlets they call propaganda.
But left independent digital voices alone.
Labor is moving the other way, pushing a bill that arguably lands on the platforms where new independent media lives, leaving the legacy media system largely outside of the bills reach.
Washington says the effect wouldnât just stay in Australia and have global consequences on free speech.
That point alone made me think of Fabian gradualism.
Remember how Albanese wrote the lead essay in Issue 1 of the Australian Fabians Review?
Well, now that essayâs author is Prime Minister, pushing a Duty of Care at the digital square, leaving legacy media comparatively exempt, with potential global implications on speech.
If Australia keeps walking this road, I expect more pressure from Washington and from Trump