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The State of Digital Rights: A 2021 Retrospective

Register here to join us at 1pm AEDT on 3 March for the online launch event for this report!

Submission: Electronic Surveillance Reform Discussion Paper

In late 2021 the Department of Home Affairs released a Reform of Australia’s Digital Surveillance Framework Discussion Paper. The Discussion Paper includes a range of proposals to reform Australia’s laws governing electronic surveillance to be “clearer, more coherent, and better adapted to the modern world.”

In solidarity with Switter

It is with great sadness that we hear of the closure of Switter – a sex work friendly social media platform – in response to an increasingly hostile regulatory environment that has eroded sex workers’ rights online over the last several years.

Submission: Anti-Trolling Bill

In late 2021 the Australian government announced its social media ‘anti-trolling’ Bill.

The Bill has been framed as an “important part of the government’s commitment to protecting Australians from online harms”. However, we are concerned that the Bill offers very little toward the protection of everyday Australians from online harms, instead focusing on increasing the power of those who elect to bring defamation proceedings, and releasing media companies from possible defamation liability.

Explainer: Privacy reform in Australia

If you read our newsletter or check the website you may have noticed that the Australian government is doing everything they can to rebrand as the world’s leading tech regulator. In the past few years we have been under a deluge of new laws, directives, industry codes… and yet none of them have fundamentally altered the way we interact with the digital ecosystem around us. Could the ongoing Privacy Act review finally shake up the system? And why do we also need an Online Privacy Bill?

Submission: Inquiry into Social Media and Online Safety

In December 2021, alongside the announcement of the Social Media (Anti-Trolling) Bill, the government announced a Parliamentary Inquiry into Social Media and Online Safety.