independent MP Zali Steggall has proposed a new bill, “Stop The Lies.” The bill aims to prohibit misleading or deceptive advertising by political players.
The call for the bill comes after Steggall was the target of an anonymous political campaign against her. The coordinated campaign accused Steggall of everything from betraying the interests of the electorate to insulting Australia’s allies.
Steggall who famously beat Tony Abbot to win Warringah, has called on the major political parties to back her “Stop The Lies” bill, so they can protect themselves from misinformation.
While the bill would tackle the obvious, and prohibit misleading or deceptive statements in political ad campaigns, it also aims to target “deep fake” videos.
Deep fake videos have become increasingly popular in politics, particularly during the Trump era. Basically, artificial intelligence is used to create a fake video that looks incredibly real, hence the name – deep fake.
Deep fake videos can create anything from people to events, putting literal words in a public person’s mouth. A famous example is a video that circulated widely of Barack Obama calling Donald Trump a dipshit.
While it looked scarily real, it was indeed fake.
If the bill passes it would hold political players accountable and would give The Australian Electoral Commission the power to ask individual politicians or parties to retract statements or correct the record.
Steggall told the Mandurah Mail that, “Public trust in politicians has been eroded over time, some of that erosion is due to their propensity to lie and the lack of accountability..
“There is legislation that prevents misleading and deceptive advertisements by businesses and there are enforcement bodies in place to keep an eye on it.
“But there is no law or body to stop politicians or third parties from lying about a candidate or their opponent during an election campaign.”
