Sam is a dedicated digital rights activist, privacy advocate and writer who regularly contributes to public debate on technology, power and human rights. She is currently undertaking a PhD at Monash University, researching the impact of emerging technologies on housing justice in Australia.
In early 2022, Digital Rights Watch responded to an Issues Paper published by the Australian government’s Digital Technology Taskforce, titled: ‘Positioning Australia as a leader in digital economy regulation – Automated Decision Making and AI Regulation.’
It is no surprise that Big Tech has become deeply unpopular. From the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the Facebook Papers to the dark side of TikTok and Google misleading people; the public is becoming increasingly aware of the invasive data collection, exploitative practices and harmful business models of the social media platforms that have come to dominate our lives.
GATHER is the third of our four-part event series for our community-based research project on Rebalancing the Internet Economy. The focus of this event is on activists, organisers, community leaders and groups who use the internet to carry out their work.
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.”
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.