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I oppose the bill on principle. That said, I can see some positive that can come of it (for Australians) which has nothing to do with safety. Still, I'm not con

I oppose the bill on principle. That said, I can see some positive that can come of it (for Australians) which has nothing to do with safety. Still, I'm not convinced that Australian politicians are actually working for Australian interests there. Also the timing seems bad. They should have done it before Elon bought Twitter. Now it looks totalitarian. Could be one of those bills pushed by foreign entities... Could be pushed to tarnish Australia to reduce the current insane levels of inbound capital flight to Australia. Many people really want to see a housing price crash, for example. Also, we shouldn't discount the desire that foreign entities have in controlling global narratives to shape global economics.

standardUser 2y ago
Australia has long been one of the most restrictive and ban-happy Western nations. This law isn't out of character at all given their culture and politics, and it passed with broad support across the political spectrum.
- naruhodo 2y ago
  > it passed with broad support across the political spectrum The Labor (historically centre-left, but now neoliberal centre-right), Liberal (classical liberal, right-centre-right) parties rammed it through parliament and National (right-wing agrarian socialist - i.e. handouts for farmers, exploitation for imported farm labour). Most of the cross-bench, including the Greens, rejected it or at least wanted more time for scrutiny. Here's my rough idea of the political spectrum: ------------X-----0---X--X-----X--------- Greens |Labor | One Nation Centre Coalition (= Liberal+National) Labor is playing small target and ensuring that no daylight is visible between them and the Liberal party. The policy is something that Murdoch's News Corp has been pushing for months [1]. With a federal election coming next year, Labor are keen to comply with Murdoch's wishes in the hopes that it will protect them from unfavourable media coverage. After all, Murdoch owns 70% of the print media in Australia. It also has to be said that Labor are cosy with the Catholics and somewhat authoritarian on freedom of speech (remember Labor's attempt at internet censorship?). From Murdoch's perspective, this is a form of reprisal against his new-media competition. From the perspective of the billionaire oligarch class, it's a handy way to unmask anonymous commenters so they can be sued into oblivion for defamation. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8SkLRxFRVM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8SkLRxFRVM The media campaign to ban social media for teenagers | Media Watch
  - standardUser 2y ago
    Only 13 votes against in the 151-member Australian house. The 5 member-green block was the only organized opposition. 77% of Aussies support the bill in a recent poll. This is about as close as the modern Western world gets to unanimity.

standardUser 2y ago

Australia has long been one of the most restrictive and ban-happy Western nations. This law isn't out of character at all given their culture and politics, and it passed with broad support across the political spectrum.

naruhodo 2y ago
> it passed with broad support across the political spectrum The Labor (historically centre-left, but now neoliberal centre-right), Liberal (classical liberal, right-centre-right) parties rammed it through parliament and National (right-wing agrarian socialist - i.e. handouts for farmers, exploitation for imported farm labour). Most of the cross-bench, including the Greens, rejected it or at least wanted more time for scrutiny. Here's my rough idea of the political spectrum: ------------X-----0---X--X-----X--------- Greens |Labor | One Nation Centre Coalition (= Liberal+National) Labor is playing small target and ensuring that no daylight is visible between them and the Liberal party. The policy is something that Murdoch's News Corp has been pushing for months [1]. With a federal election coming next year, Labor are keen to comply with Murdoch's wishes in the hopes that it will protect them from unfavourable media coverage. After all, Murdoch owns 70% of the print media in Australia. It also has to be said that Labor are cosy with the Catholics and somewhat authoritarian on freedom of speech (remember Labor's attempt at internet censorship?). From Murdoch's perspective, this is a form of reprisal against his new-media competition. From the perspective of the billionaire oligarch class, it's a handy way to unmask anonymous commenters so they can be sued into oblivion for defamation. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8SkLRxFRVM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8SkLRxFRVM The media campaign to ban social media for teenagers | Media Watch
- standardUser 2y ago
  Only 13 votes against in the 151-member Australian house. The 5 member-green block was the only organized opposition. 77% of Aussies support the bill in a recent poll. This is about as close as the modern Western world gets to unanimity.