RIGHT OF – LAW AND LEGISLATION – AUSTRALIA

Anti far-right campaigners say Labor’s anti-doxxing laws could be weaponised

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Josh Taylor
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 12-Apr-24

The federal government is looking at legislating to make doxxing a criminal offence, as well as the right to sue for serious invasion of privacy. It comes after a spreadsheet containing the names, professions and social media accounts of 600 Australian Jewish writers and artists who were members of a WhatsApp group was posted online; it was posted in response to some group members actively targeting pro-Palestinian writers and their publishers over their coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict. In its submission on the proposed laws, the White Rose Society, which routinely investigates neo-Nazi groups and unmasks those groups in its reporting, claimed that not all doxxing is harmful, and that exposing such groups for the purpose of community and public safety is an important service.

CORPORATES

PM vows to crack down on doxxing

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joe Kelly, Jess Malcolm, Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 13-Feb-24

The federal government will criminalise ‘doxxing’ as part of an overhaul of the Privacy Act, after the personal details of 600 Jewish people in the nation’s creative industries were published online. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says it is "completely unacceptable" for Australians to be targeted due to their religion or faith. Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dvir Abramovich says the laws are urgently needed, adding that the deliberate online targeting of Jewish people constitutes "digital terrorism". Meanwhile, the government has come under scrutiny for taking until 2 February to declare the mass killing of Israelis in October 2023 as a terrorist attack.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, ANTI-DEFAMATION COMMISSION

Australia to consider European-style right to be forgotten privacy laws

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Paul Karp
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 19-Jan-23

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus says the federal government will pursue a major overhaul of the Privacy Act. He had stated in late 2022 that the legislation is not "fit-for-purpose" in the digital due to inaction by the former Coalition government. Amongst other things, potential reforms could include introducing a statutory tort of privacy, which would give people the right to seek damages for breaches of their privacy. The so-called ‘right to be forgotten’ could also be on Labor’s agenda; this would allow people to request companies to erase their personal data if it is no longer necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT