A sweeping law could see Australians jailed for three years for posting what’s deemed ‘offensive’ on Facebook in an attempt to protect minority groups.
Queensland‘s Labor government has introduced a bill that would dramatically increase the maximum prison sentence for racist, anti-gay, anti-trans or seriously bigoted statements.
Making such statements already carry a maximum six-month jail term, but that would be increased to three years under the new bill.
Inflammatory Facebook posts would be a criminal offence with the legislation covering ‘any form of communication to the public, including by speaking, writing, printing, displaying notices, broadcasting, telecasting, screening or playing of tapes or other recorded material, or by electronic means’.
Posting a Nazi symbol on social media, or carrying it around publicly, will also prompt jail time.
