Meet the American who helped ruin Albanese government’s censorship plan

A free speech warrior from the US was a ‘secret weapon’ in derailing the Albanese Government’s misinformation bill, but warns the fight against censorship is far from over.

After Greens, Coalition, and crossbench Senators announced they would oppose the bill beefing up a watchdog to police the internet for ‘harmful mis or disinformation’, the Albanese government was forced to withdraw the legislation on Sunday.

Visiting US activist Michael Shellenberger met with a number of Senators in Canberra last week to lobby against the misinformation bill, with some such as Victorian independent crossbencher David Van tweeting thank yous.

However, even with the proposed laws rejected, Mr Shellenberger said ‘there’s still a lot of work to be done to detoxify the institutions’.

‘There’s only one thing to counter misinformation, that’s accurate information, censorship is not a strategy to counter misinformation, censorship simply represses. It is an act of power and oppression,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.

‘There’s a generation of young people that don’t get that yet.’

He also warned against the Albanese government’s attempt to ban people under 16 from social media, which appeared set to become law this week with the support of the Coalition.

‘I am a father and have two kids who are negatively impacted by social media, so I am very sympathetic to the goal,’ he said.

‘But you have to ask how are they going to enforce this and are they going to enforce it in ways that are going to allow censorship through the back door.

‘I think the people of Australia should be suspicious of anything this prime minister tries to do.’

Mr Shellenberger, who started the hugely successful news and opinion outlet Public Substack and has authored three books on politics, said it was particularly galling the misinformation Bill had exempted governments from the censorship laws.

‘There is no greater purveyor of misinformation than government and if governments are now going to censor they are going to censor the truth,’ he said.

‘You had the governments say Covid came from a wet market, well most intelligence agencies now think it came from the Wuhan institute of virology.

‘The US government said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction that led to the invasion of Iraq. That turned out to be misinformation.

‘They want to censor the accurate information because that is what threatens their ability to propagandise and get their way.’

Mr Shellenberger said free speech is vitally important but is under worldwide attack.

‘Free speech is the key to everything. It is the first freedom, and we need to get back on the front foot,’ he said.

‘Everywhere in the world, you have deep-state swamp creatures who think they have some right to decide what people are allowed to say.

Mr Shellenberger (pictured left) debates American TV science show presenter Bill  Nye on stage

‘When people realise what the deep state is trying to do, they rise up, they become outraged, and that is happening in Australia.’

Mr Shellenberger, who boasts over 1.5million followers across his various social media, first got involved in politics around the deeply progressive Californian university town of Berkeley.

After being part of left-leaning environment groups Mr Shellenbeger ran as Democratic candidate for California governor in 2018 but said he now struggles to understand why the political left has become the major threat to free speech.

‘I have changed my mind over various issues over the years, but I have never changed my mind on free speech. I have been in favour of free speech my whole life,’ Mr Shellenberger said.

‘The Left are the heirs of the civil rights movement, the gay rights movement, every single one of those movements required free speech, and every single one of them was fighting censorship.

Mr Shellenberger said Elon Musk (pictured left) buying Twitter and Donald Trump winning back the US presidency were turning points in winning the war against the censors

‘Now the progressives’ caring and compassion are only for so-called victims. They became woke and woke is a victimhood theology and a victimhood theology divides all people in victims and oppressors, you are a victim or our are an oppressor.

He issued a warning, sharing his belief that Orwell’s predictions in 1984 resonate powerfully with the current state of society today.

‘I re-read George Orwell’s 1984 a few months ago and it was shocking to me how relevant it was. It did not feel like an old book it felt like a book that could have been written about what is happening now. 

‘Orwell said that totalitarianism would come out of the bureaucracy. The left controls the administrative state, the professional managerial class, and they want power.’

Mr Shellenberger and US podcaster Joe Rogan

Mr Shellenberger said two cataclysmic events have disrupted the Left’s war on free speech – Donald Trump being re-elected and Elon Musk buying Twitter.

‘Previously, politicians were able to control the media, and the media was able to control the politicians. Social media has been a gamechanger,’ Mr Shellenberger said.

‘The deep state’s control over Twitter was a lot like the Catholic Church’s control over doctrine.

‘It lasted for a while, but at a certain point, Martin Luther came along and used the printing press against the church. That’s what Elon Musk is, he is the Martin Luther of social media.

‘He turns this powerful technology into a tool of the people.’

Mr Shellenberger was brought to Australia by right-wing think tank the Institute of Public Affairs, as part of its campaign against the misinformation Bill.

He has departed for England to challenge the UK’s Labour government for jailing people over social media posts.