Barely a day after being banished from Facebook, Australian MP Craig Kelly has acted swiftly to propose a new Bill that will seek to rein in the power of Big Tech companies like Facebook.
According to the Florida law, tech giants like Google, Facebook, or Twitter face fines of around $100,000 per day for each day a state-wide candidate is banned from their platform, and $10,000 fines for other candidates.
“The market power of the foreign controlled tech-giants and their ability to censor political speech is an immediate and direct threat to our democracy,” Kelly told The Epoch Times.
“We have seen in Australia Facebook acting as a media thug and bully, who believes they are above the law and are arbiters of truth. Governor De Santis of Florida has acted to hold these social-media giants to account.”
A Facebook spokesperson said, “We don’t allow anyone, including elected officials, to share misinformation about COVID-19 that could lead to imminent physical harm or COVID-19 vaccines that have been debunked by public health experts.”
But Kelly denied that he shared “misinformation” saying his posts contained actual research by medical professionals and experts.
“I’m quoting a doctor or a medical specialist that has a different opinion from another doctor or medical specialist. That doesn’t make it misinformation, that makes it an alternative opinion,” he said.
“A society where someone that has an alternative opinion to you is (accused of) spreading misinformation is a fascist, totalitarian society.”
Kelly is hoping to receive the support of another member of Parliament so he can formally introduce the Bill to the floor during its next sitting.
In February, Facebook controversially banned news content, and news media companies, from its platform leading up to the passing of the News Media Bargaining Code.
The ban however caused major disruption and public uproar, when it inexplicably suspended the Facebook pages of non-media organisations, including trade unions, charities, the weather bureau, and government health services.