Featured stories about Australia
Stories about Australia
Australian PM Anthony Albanese adds to growing political pressure to #FreeJulianAssange
The Australian PM has finally talked about Julian Assange ... and while distancing himself from Assange’s well-motivated actions, has said he has raised it with representatives of the US administration.
Policing the pandemic: Australia’s technology response to COVID-19
Australian governments approached the use of digital technologies from an ideological perspective, heavily leaning on control and surveillance.
Journalists call for the release of Cheng Lei who has spent a year in detention in China
"We are concerned about the chilling affect her arrest has on the practice of journalism, which has never been more critical."
Australian government on collision course with Facebook and Google over news revenue
"The code is justified by a News Corp lie, that Google steals news content and makes billions of dollars from it."
Julian Assange supporters rally to defeat extradition to United States
"The extradition to the US of a publisher and journalist, for engaging in journalistic activities while in Europe, would set a very dangerous precedent."
Another Australian university criticized for censoring voices supporting Hong Kong's human rights
An Australian university was criticized for deleting an article published on its website that urges the international community to put pressure on China for infringements on human rights in Hong Kong.
Groundswell of support to free Julian Assange around February extradition hearing
"Don’t be fooled: Julian Assange is a journalist, not a hacker, and the US wants to make his work—national security journalism—a crime"
Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun still detained by Beijing after six months
"Lawyers for Australian writer #YangHengjun, who has been detained in #China since January, are urging #Canberra to intervene."
Australia’s digital rights advocates and tech sector push back against law undermining encryption
"The new legislation directly targets encryption and basically coerces developers, device manufacturers and service providers to allow the government to spy on people’s encrypted data."
Police raids on major media organisations expose lack of press freedom in Australia
"These continued attacks on press freedoms in Australia should be condemned in the strongest possible terms. Freedom of the Press to scrutinise the Govt is crucial to liberal democracy."
Censored in 2018: Protest videos, court verdicts, real news — and Peppa Pig
From blocked websites to revoked media licenses to account shutdowns, censorship comes in many forms. Here are a few we saw in 2018.
In Cardinal George Pell's sexual abuse trial, Australian court fails to suppress the ‘nation's worst kept secret’
"The alleged suppression order on #georgepell is allowing fake news and hearsay and speculation take the place of reputable news sources."
‘We Told You So': Australian Federal Police Accessed Journalist's Phone Records Illegally
Australian police have breached the law by accessing a journalist's phone records without a warrant in order to trace a leak.
‘Nude’ Photos of Australian Aboriginal Women Trigger Facebook Account Suspensions
Facebook has been attacked over its suspension of people in Australia for posting a photo of topless Aboriginal women performing a public ceremony.
Australian Artist Jailed in UAE For Posting “Bad Words” on Facebook
An Australian artist found herself thrown into an Abu Dhabi prison and deported for posting a photograph of a car blocking a disabled parking spot.
WikiLeaks Supporters Shocked by Visit With Syria's Assad
The view from down under: A late December meeting between Australia's Wikileaks Party and Bashar al-Assad has raised critical questions about the WikiLeaks Party and platform.
VIDEO: How the Trans-Pacific Partnership Could Hurt Internet Users
A new animated video explains how the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a massive trade agreement being negotiated by the United States and ten governments from around the Pacific region, could have alarming consequences for Internet users.
Australia debates internet censorship
It is not only China or Iran. Australia is debating internet censorship, in its case to protect children from online predators. But the proposal is off to a rocky start after several child protection groups-including Save the Children and civil liberty groups’ opposition. According to ABC News “The child protection...
Australia embraces web censorship
The issue of internet censorship generally involves countries deemed non-democratic or “repressive” (something I discuss in my new book, The Blogging Revolution.) We regularly read reports about the regimes in China or Iran blocking countless “subversive” websites for overtly political gain. Alas, a growing number of nations in the West...
