Social media has become a modern public forum — respectful political discussion should not be hidden or filtered.

Social media has become one of the main ways Australians communicate with their elected representatives. Platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are widely used by politicians to announce policies, share updates, and engage directly with constituents.

For many Australians, these pages now function as a modern public forum where voters can ask questions, raise concerns, and participate in discussions about public policy.

However, there is growing concern that respectful comments and legitimate questions are sometimes hidden, deleted, filtered, or that individuals are blocked when they express views that differ from the message being presented.

While moderation to remove abusive, threatening, defamatory, or offensive content is entirely appropriate, the removal or hiding of respectful questions can undermine open democratic discussion.

When comments are selectively hidden or removed, it can create an artificial “echo chamber” where only supportive views remain visible. This may give the impression of unanimous agreement and prevents voters from seeing genuine community discussion.

Australia’s democratic system relies on open communication between citizens and those elected to represent them. The High Court of Australia has recognised the importance of political communication through the constitutional principle known as the implied freedom of political communication, established in the case of Lange v Australian Broadcasting Corporation and reinforced in later decisions.

Transparency and accountability are essential to maintaining trust in democratic institutions.

Respectful public discussion should remain visible.

What This Petition Calls For:

To support open and transparent communication between voters and elected representatives, this petition calls for:

1. Clear moderation policies

All official social media pages operated by elected representatives should publish clear moderation guidelines so the public understands what type of content may be removed.

2. Moderation limited to harmful content

Comment moderation should be limited to content that is abusive, threatening, defamatory, unlawful, or clearly offensive.

3. Protection of respectful political discussion

Respectful questions, criticism, and differing political opinions should not be hidden, deleted, or filtered simply because they challenge the message being presented.

4. Transparency when comments or users are removed

If comments are removed or users are blocked, there should be transparency about the reason and a clear process for review.

5. Recognition of official pages as public communication forums

When social media pages are used by elected representatives to communicate with constituents, they should allow visible and open public discussion wherever possible.

Open discussion strengthens democracy, promotes informed decision-making, and builds trust between citizens and those elected to represent them.

Australians should be able to engage with their elected representatives respectfully and openly without concern that their voices will be removed simply because they ask difficult questions or hold differing views.

About the Petition Creator:

This petition was started by an Australian constituent who believes that open and respectful discussion between voters and elected representatives is essential to a healthy democracy.

Social media has become one of the main ways people communicate with politicians, allowing Australians to ask questions, raise concerns, and participate in discussions about policies that affect their lives.

However, when respectful comments and legitimate questions are hidden, deleted, or filtered, it can prevent genuine public discussion and limit transparency.

This petition is not about preventing reasonable moderation. Abusive, threatening, or offensive comments should absolutely be moderated.

The goal is simply to encourage transparency and ensure that respectful public discussion remains visible so voters can engage openly with those elected to represent them.