One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce and Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young have raised concerns over Australians’ ability to watch a live stream of a firing squad execution in the US.
The unlikely duo have sounded the alarm over US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s proposal to ensure the public can watch the scheduled December 3 execution of Nidal Malik Hasan.
Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring dozens more in a shooting at the Fort Hood military base in 2009 and his death would mark the first US execution by a military firing squad since World War II.
Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has written to Communications Minister Anika Wells and the eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant to urge them to take all necessary steps to ensure it’s not broadcast or accessible in Australia.
“This is an unconscionable, abhorrent act which will expose an immeasurable amount of people to harm, including millions of Australians, including children,” Senator Hanson-Young said.
“This act of state-sanctioned killing should have no place in any society, let alone ours. It cannot be allowed to circulate unchecked and unregulated across the feeds of Australians and our children.
“Let’s be clear: the Australian Government can stop this barbaric content from appearing on our feeds.”
Mr Joyce expressed concern that children could watch the US firing squad execution online and said no one should view “Roman amphitheatre stuff”.
“This is Roman amphitheatre stuff. I don’t agree with that,” he told News24.
“We don’t have the death penalty in Australia, and I certainly don’t want any children, or anybody, to be honest, to witness another human being, being shot by a firing squad.”
While it’s still over a month away, the minister’s office and eSafety are understood to be examining what measures could be implemented regarding online platforms, free-to-air television, and streaming services.
Ms Wells highlighted her upcoming “Digital Duty Of Care” in Question Time on Monday, insisting it would be a whole-of-internet approach that pushes the onus on big tech to make the online environment safer.
“Almost two years ago today, Parliament came together and voted to give Australian kids a break from the pervasive tools of social media,” the Labor frontbencher said.
“We called out the harmful limited design features that were being used against them: targeted algorithms, doom-scrolling, persistent notifications, and toxic popularity meters that were stealing their attention for hours every day.
“I’ve heard from parents all over Australia who are so relieved that we have delayed access to social media until the age of 16 but they are, understandably, still worried about how they can protect their kids on other platforms like online games and AI chatbots.
“Parents are calling on the Parliament to do more, and they’re not alone. Experts and advocates are urging Parliament to come together and take the next step in protecting young Australians from online harm by legislating a digital duty of care.”
Ms Wells is expected to introduce the laws to force tech companies to design platforms that prevent “foreseeable harms” into Parliament on Thursday.
Ms Wells will scrap a controversial ministerial power that would have allowed her to set forms of “serious harm” outside of the legislation in a bid to pass the legislation this year.
Labor only has until the last sitting week at the end of November and both the Greens and the Coalition have attacked the current exposure draft as an overreach.
“The digital duty of care recognises that the responsibility should sit with the platforms. Online safety should not be a political issue,” she told Parliament on Monday.
“All sides of Parliament need to work together to deliver a digital duty of care. There is no reason why we can’t work together to get this done.”