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
Category: Legislation
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Round one
Defamation reform discussion paper issued by attorneys general ... All the usual issues are on display ... Some items missing in action ... A new regime for the digital world? ... Submissions close on April 30 ... Janek Drevikovsky reports ... more
Reporting the state’s secrets
Espionage and Foreign Interference Bill passes parliament ... What are the consequences for journalists? ... "Dealing" with classified information ... "Innocent" receipt of information ... The context in which a journalist might "deal" with a document ... Public interest defence is narrow and uncertain ... Criminalising journalism ... Kishor Napier-Raman looks at the chilling effect of the new law ... more