HRLA client and former Australian Breastfeeding Association counsellor Jasmine Sussex has experienced first-hand the way that government censorship of online speech works in practice.
Jasmine is a passionate and publicly vocal defender of women’s rights and breastfeeding mums. She was subject to censorship after she publicly contended that ‘men cannot breastfeed’ in response to a trans-identifying man’s public declaration to have done so.
Jasmine received a notice from Twitter advising her that her twitter comments would be withheld in Australia as they had “broken the law”. Twitter also advised that they had been contacted by a “government entity or law enforcement agency” claiming her tweets were unlawful.
In addition to being censored, Jasmine is now facing a complaint of vilification under the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Act from the trans-identifying man in question alleging that Jasmine has “incited hatred, contempt and serious ridicule” by publicly criticising this person’s pro-transgender activism on social media.
HRLA is providing Jasmine with pro-bono legal assistance to oppose this complaint in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal and to defend her right to stand up for the sex-based rights of women.
While the government’s review will examine an expansion of the eSafety Commissioner’s powers, it is important to note that the Commissioner already has substantial powers under the Online Safety Act 2021 to police online speech and to coerce internet platforms to remove content.
Jasmine’s case is a clear example of the way that such powers can be misused by bureaucrats to silence free debate about transgender ideology.
Source: HRLA