The Online Safety Bill is a threat to activism

What if the government stopped you from sharing videos of police violence? Or spied on your private communications? And did it in the name of keeping you safe?  These are some of the possible outcomes of the Federal government’s proposed Online Safety Bill. The Bill would give broad and unchecked powers to the Australian eSafety Commissioner to censor the internet and further extend the government’s ability to intercept our private communications.  Environmental activists and campaigns might not be mentioned by the government, but there is a history of politicians and police framing activism as a criminal threat. And there’s nothing to stop them from using the Online Safety Bill to do just that.  And then later on the show, it’s 150 years since the Paris Commune. What can those 19th century revolutionaries teach us about our digital world today?     Guest: Lizzie O'Shea (Digital Rights Watch).    Links:  'Explainer: The Online Safety Bill' Digital Rights Watch  'The Judgment of Paris: Facebook vs. the Communards' Lizzie O'Shea  '#HeyASIO: data retention and the threat to activism' Earth Matters October 2015     Earth Matters #1291 was produced by Teishan Ahearne.