New South Wales (NSW) Premier Chris Minns will seek to block climate activists from live-streaming illegal protests on social media following a week of coordinated actions targeting east coast coal ports.
Minns will sit down with representatives from Facebook and police to discuss the move, saying the protesters’ “business model” relied on social media.
“These thrill demonstrators are putting lives at risk, both their own and those of emergency services and police,” Minns said.
“I don’t want to see a situation where there’s a death broadcast on social media.”
He said having police and other rescue agencies tied up dealing with the protests could mean they are diverted from other emergencies.
“We will sit down with police and Facebook about what more can be done to stop the broadcast of illegal acts,” Minns said.
Climate activists have live-streamed their involvement in nationwide protests.
Traffic in Brisbane was thrown into chaos earlier this week during a simultaneous protest in Melbourne by Blockade Australia.
Several protesters were arrested, including Claudia Hannigan, who suspended herself above a rail bridge at Port of Newcastle, a major coal terminal.
Blockade Australia released a statement on Facebook denouncing the proposed livestream ban.
“Silencing protests on Facebook will not cool the planet,” the statement read.
“We are here for the planet, not for the likes.”
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said he would support an end to protester live streams, and the right to free speech had to be balanced with other concerns.
“People have rights to move about their daily lives,'' he said.
“People have rights to take their kids to school, to go to work, to engage in gainful employment.
“All those rights have to be balanced.
“These protesters can write to newspapers, they can set up Facebook pages. People can organise a protest in Macquarie Street, they can get a permit.”
Crossbencher Alex Greenwich was concerned about the ban, saying protest is an important part of political expression.
“I wouldn’t be here today as an openly gay member of parliament had it not been for the protests for 78ers,” he said on Thursday.
“I’m always deeply concerned on anything that seeks to restrict the freedom of protests and the broadcast of that of that freedom of protest.”
