Latest Articles

Productivity Commission promotes big tech’s regulatory agenda over the rights of Australians

Digital Rights Watch is disappointed but unsurprised that the Productivity Commission has swallowed the AI marketing hype. Their recent interim report advocates for a pause on regulation and discusses approaches that would roll-back the few existing protections that we have. This is at odds with most Australians who want the government to act to protect them from harm by unaccountable and unfair AI systems.

Social Media Ban

Digital Rights Watch remains firmly opposed to the Albanese government’s proposed social media ban. Not only will this ban fail to keep children safe, it will also exact a terrible price for not doing so.

Digital Duty of Care

The Albanese government has committed to legislating a “digital duty of care”, but what does that really mean and why do we want it?

2025 Privacy Reform Explainer

Today marks an important milestone, but there is still work to be done! Way back in December 2024, the government passed the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. The law comes into force today, 10 June 2025 and makes the following welcomed changes to our current privacy laws:

All or nothing? The relationship between privacy and safety in addressing online harms

To better understand the relationship between privacy and safety in addressing online harms, Digital Rights Watch has commissioned a research report featuring polling conducted by Essential Media. It covers some topical technologies like facial recognition and age assurance tech, client-side scanning in CSAEM detection, and methods of improving safety without impacting privacy.

The Fight for Digital Rights in the Age of AI

Image: Yutong Liu & The Bigger Picture / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The promise of AI innovation has captured the attention of the technology industry and its associated policy makers. While we wait for the development of a National AI Capability Plan in Australia, companies are left with a set of voluntary guardrails to navigate the technologies’ associated risks.