21st Aug 2024, 10:44 AM – Senate Criminal Code Amendment (Deepfake Sexual Material) Bill 2024 - Second Reading - Ban politicial deepfakes

The majority voted against a second reading amendment introduced by ACT Senator David Pocock (Independent), which means it failed. This amendment would have added the words below to the usual second reading motion, which is "that the bill be read a second time" (parliamentary jargon for agreeing with the main idea of the bill).

Amendment text

At the end of the motion, add ", the Senate:

(a) notes that:

(i) deepfakes present inherent risks including the spread of misinformation, threats to privacy and security, altering election outcomes and misleading and deceiving voters,

(ii) Australians have lost over $8 million to scams linked to online investment trading platforms, often using deepfakes,

(iii) the Australian Electoral Commissioner has warned that Australia is not ready for its first artificial intelligence election that is coming within the next 12 months,

(iv) deepfakes of Australian politicians have already been used, and

(v) the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Voter Protections in Political Advertising) Bill 2023, introduced by the Member for Warringah on 13 November 2023, would ban the use of deepfakes in political advertising; and

(b) calls on the Government to:

(i) ban the use and transmission of deepfakes in political advertising prior to the next federal election, and

(ii) further regulate the use and transmission of deepfakes to address the risks they present".