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On the heels of cuts to skilled migration, unworkable privacy laws and cuts to govt funded R&D (totalling $4B cut so far), I didn't think it could get worse for tech jobs in Australia. But it has.
Without any consultation, the government aims to rush through legislation aimed at “abhorrent violent material”. Let me be clear, no-one wants this material on the internet. But the legislation is flawed and will unnecessarily cost jobs and damage our tech industry.
The current legislation means that anyone working for a company that allows user generated content could potentially go to jail for 3 years. As written, that applies to news sites, social media sites, dating sites, job sites - anywhere user content could be created.
If the material in question is uploaded and you don’t take it down “expeditiously”, you can go to jail. What is expeditiously? Not defined! “Who” in a company? Not defined!
From the party that says they are about jobs & the economy, I can’t fathom how & why the government would introduce such flawed legislation that puts more tech jobs in jeopardy.
I'm calling on the government to send this legislation to a committee for due diligence and consult properly with industry. In its blind rush to legislate, the government is creating confusion and threatening jobs.
Despite an explicit carve-out for "professional journalists" (which makes no sense in the context of user generated content), even mainstream media are up in arms: theaustralian.com.au/nation/politic…
