Legislation    October 7, 2024

Speech management in the digital era

Legislative impacts for publishers ... Privacy reforms ... The new tort ... Remedies ... Exemptions ... Doxxing ... Hate speech ... Mis-and-Dis-information... Expanded management of online speech ... From Sophie Dawson and Hamish Lennon ... more

 

Legislation    July 1, 2024

Digital defamation deformation

Reform of defamation law relating to digital publications in disarray ... Stage 2 amendments dealing with online intermediaries ... Fragmentation ... Incentive for the Commonwealth to step in ... Anachronism prevails ... Report from Kevin Lynch and Hamish Lennon ... more

 

Legislation    July 31, 2023

Mis-and-Dis-Information

Exposure draft ... An explanation ... ACMA's remedies ... Industry codes and standards ... The scope of misinformation ... The required level of harm ... Record keeping ... Much ado ... News content excluded ... Softly-softly approach ... The tearaway province of political advertising ... Alan Zheng reports ... more

 

Legislation    December 22, 2022

Review of Commonwealth Secrecy Offences

Commonwealth Attorney-General announces review of secrecy offences ... Follows ALRC report on open government and Intelligence and Security Committee's recommendations ... Effect of Espionage and Foreign Interference legislation ... Report by June 30, 2023 ... Courts Editor Stephen Murray reports ... more

 

Legislation    August 14, 2022

Defamation law reforms proposed for digital intermediaries

Stage 2 defamation law reform proposals released for consultation ... Protections for internet intermediaries ... Standard search engine functions protected ... Safe harbour or innocent dissemination options for digital intermediaries ... Courts Editor Stephen Murray reports ... more

 

Legislation    April 28, 2022

NSW: tripwires for public interest disclosure

New South Wales ... Limited amendments to Public Interest Disclosure legislation ... Wider category of "public officials" ... New remedies ... Government ignores key recommendation ... High threshold retained for protection of disclosures to journalists ... Reputation and confidentiality ... Max Shanahan reporting ... more

 

Legislation    December 16, 2021

Politics and the pulpit

Religious Discrimination Bill ... Context, history and place in anti-discrimination law ... Unintended and intended consequences ... Equality and liberty ... The shield and the sword ... Race and religion ... Bogging down the courts ... Conceptually incoherent legislation ... External affairs power ... Alan Zheng reports ... more

 

Legislation    December 2, 2021

Bye-bye Voller

What's under the bonnet of the Social Media (Anti-Trolling) Bill, 2021? ... Flawed complaints scheme for defamatory social media commentary ... The whims of tech platforms remain untrammelled ... Clunky pathway to discovery ... Shifting liability to third-parties ... From Alex Tharby and Tracy Cole  ... more

 

Legislation    November 24, 2021

Online Safety Act, 2021

Contentious areas in the new online safety legislation ... Definitions ... Tests ... Scope ... Determination of offensive material ... Trolling-type behaviour ... Psychiatric harms ... Potential to abuse the complaints process ...  Removal notices ... Alan Zheng reports ... more

 

Legislation    March 15, 2021

More disruption

More surveillance by the security state ... SLAID Bill ... Dutton to take over your computers ... New breed of warrants ... Richardson review cautioned against this legislation ... Police already have sufficient disruption power ... Wider implications for free speech ... Unforeseen consequences ... Janek Drevikovsky reports ... more

 

Legislation    March 3, 2021

The long arm of the law does digital

Online Safety Bill ... Cyber-security and safety measures ... Expectations, regulatory schemes, governance and powers ... Removal notices and take-downs ... Regulation of "image-based abuse" and violent images ... Anna Kretowicz reports ... more

 

Legislation    July 30, 2020

NSW first off the rank in defamation law overhaul

NSW moves swiftly on defamation law reform ... Attorney General Speakman's second reading speech ... "Social media has democratised defamation" ... Public interest journalism defence introduced ... Serious harm threshold ... Scientific and academic review defence ... Single publication rule ... Courts Editor Stephen Murray reports ... more