Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young says she wants to ask Sky News and YouTube the questions she thinks Australia’s broadcasting regulator should have asked.

As chair of the Senate Inquiry into Media Diversity, she is to move for the Google video business’s seven-day ban on Sky News to be investigated by the committee.

Hanson-Young (pictured) plans to ask that representatives from Sky News, YouTube/Google and the ACMA be called to give evidence on the ban and why the broadcasting regulator has failed to take any action.

“The obvious question is if the spread of misinformation isn’t allowed on the internet why is it on television broadcasts,” she said.

“There are questions for both the government regulator and the companies involved, and the media inquiry should investigate.

“Many people are asking why it takes a tech company to hold Murdoch’s News Corp's dissemination of COVID misinformation and conspiracy-theories to account. Where is the public media regulator in all this?”

In a statement yesterday, she said YouTube’s action to uphold its policies around medical misinformation was welcome. 

“Governments around the world have been putting pressure on the social media giants to act responsibly in relation to COVID misinformation. But we aren’t talking about just any YouTube account, Sky News is a commercial broadcaster and so the very obvious question is how can they get away with it on television?

“Sky News broadcasts on both a subscription service and also free-to-air in many regional areas – this puts the news channel clearly in ACMA's remit. ACMA appears to be sitting on its hands while a tech giant upholds standards the government regulator doesn’t seem to have." 

• Update: Hanson-Young has recalled the inquiry during next week (beginning next Monday August 9) in order to question executives from ACMA, YouTube and Sky News