Key Points
- Attorney General Mark Dreyfus introduced legislation banning the practice known as doxing.
- Doxing involves people’s personal information being shared online to encourage harassment.
- New penalties for hate crimes were also introduced on Thursday, with some groups saying they did not go far enough.
People who maliciously reveal someone’s private information online could soon face up to seven years in prison.
Those suspected of doxxing someone will face a maximum of six years in prison, while offenders will face up to seven years in prison if a person was targeted due to factors such as race, religion or gender. sexual orientation.
Doxing refers to revealing a person’s private information, such as their phone number or address, without their consent and is often used to encourage harassment.
Attorney General Mark Dreyfus Pledged to Take Action on This Issue including photos and social media details, were published online earlier this year.
“Doxing exposes victims to significant and lasting harm, including public embarrassment, humiliation, humiliation, discrimination, harassment, identity theft and financial fraud,” a Dreyfus told parliament as he introduced laws banning doxing on Thursday.
“Doxing is a harmful form of abuse that can affect all Australians, but is often used against women in the context of domestic and family violence.”
The crackdown would strengthen online protections and give citizens greater control over their personal information, Dreyfus said before introducing the legislation.
Under these laws, Australians would also have a new right to sue people or companies for invasion of their privacy.
A Children’s Privacy Code has been included to specifically protect children from online harm.
The law will not cover changing exemptions for small businesses, informal consent so big companies can’t trap consumers with complicated terms and conditions, and the right to be forgotten, which covers revoking access to public information.
The government also introduced laws Thursday that would create new penalties for hate crimes, but some organizations said they did not go far enough to address them.
Penalties of five years in prison will apply to people who use force or violence against a group, while seven years in prison will apply to threats that threaten the federal government.
Dreyfus said the laws responded to the increase in hate speech in the community and sent a “clear signal” that there was “no place in this country” for hateful behavior.
The revised bill does not provide for harsh penalties for defamation, which have been presented as a response to increasing levels of anti-Semitism and vilification targeting minority groups.
The laws were overturned after negotiations over separate religious freedom and anti-discrimination laws failed.
The sticking point between Labor and the opposition over the balance between anti-discrimination exclusions for religious beliefs – such as the ability to fire gay staff – and the elimination of dangerous bias has spilled over into laws on hate speech.
LGBTIQ+ organization Equality Australia chief executive Anna Brown said there was no protection against hate speech or serious defamation in the laws.
“LGBTIQ+ communities do not receive sufficient protection under the law. For our communities, the need for greater protection against hate and defamation is urgent,” she said.
“We want a federal law that protects us all. The patchwork of laws across the country have crucial gaps and are not fit for purpose.”
Others expressed concerns about the impact on freedom of expression.
State and territory laws cover defamation.
