The new proposed crime of doxing would be punishable by up to seven years in jail for targeting someone for their race, religion or sexuality but Labor has backed down on its proposal to outlaw hate speech and vilification against minority groups.
Malicious release of personal data would be criminalised under a bill to be introduced by the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, on Thursday along with a separate bill implementing the first tranche of privacy reforms.
As Guardian Australia revealed on Monday, this will include a new right to sue for “serious invasions of privacy” and a children’s online privacy code.
The doxing bill, full details of which will only be revealed on Thursday, would criminalise “malicious use of personal data”, with a penalty of up to six years in prison or up to seven years for targeting a person because of their race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, disability, nationality or national or ethnic origin.
But despite promising a bill to criminalise vilification and hate speech more generally – such as inciting hatred, serious contempt, revulsion or severe ridicule – the government has dropped the commitment.
Instead the government will criminalise incitement to serious acts of violence or threats of violence, likely aligning sexuality and gender with existing protections for race.
On Tuesday, Anthony Albanese told question time “the government will be introducing legislation this week to create new criminal offences and strengthen protections against hate crimes”.
“These offences will protect the community, including the LGBTQIA+ community and other targeted groups, from the threat of force or violence and from those who would urge violence against them, which we know is only too real.”
The Albanese government announced its intention to crack down on doxing in February in response to the publication of the log of a WhatsApp group chat of more than 600 Jewish Australians.
The proposal immediately sparked controversy, with the anti-fascist research group the White Rose Society warning it could be weaponised against journalists and their sources.
Others including the writer and commentator Clementine Ford noted republication of the initial WhatsApp leak had contributed to discourse about “coordinated efforts … to silence Palestinian activists and their allies”.
The separate privacy bill promises to provide: “greater transparency for individuals regarding automated decisions that affect them”; “streamlined information sharing in the case of an emergency or eligible data breach”; and “stronger enforcement powers for the Australian information commissioner”.
Stakeholders have expressed concern the first tranche of privacy legislation has excluded the largest changes recommended by the Attorney General’s Department, including ending the exemption for small businesses and expanding the definition of personal information which is protected.
As Labor broadens its crackdown on big tech, including a proposal to ban children from social media apps, the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, will introduce its bill on misinformation and disinformation which has been debated in exposure draft form for more than a year.
That bill allows the Australian Communications and Media Authority to create an enforceable industry code if industry self-regulation fails to address the threat posed by misinformation and disinformation.
The law would apply to material that is “reasonably verifiable as false, misleading or deceptive and reasonably likely to cause or contribute to serious harm”. That includes harms to individuals, such as vilification, or public health and order, but not environmental harm, which has been removed by amendments.
The government has also amended the bill so that electoral and government content is no longer exempt, while the religious exemption has been clarified. The bill does not apply to satire, parody, news content, academic, artistic, scientific or religious material.
The Coalition’s position on the doxing and misinformation bills is unclear.
Despite the Morrison government proposing the same misinformation powers for Acma, the Coalition criticised that bill throughout 2023 including amplifying religious groups’ concerns it will create a ministry of truth or censor religious speech. The government insists nothing in the bill enables Acma itself to take down individual pieces of content or user accounts.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, appeared to have a change of heart after the Bondi murders and Wakeley alleged stabbing although some conservatives still have concern about the bill.
Rowland said the legislation would “carefully balance the public interest in combatting seriously harmful misinformation and disinformation with freedom of expression”.
“Misinformation and disinformation pose a serious threat to the safety and wellbeing of Australians, as well as to our democracy, society and economy,” she said. “Doing nothing and allowing this problem to fester is not an option.”
“The government is committed to keeping Australians safe online, and that includes ensuring the Acma has the powers it needs to hold digital platforms to account for misinformation and disinformation on their services.”
Dreyfus said the privacy and doxing bills reflect that “Australians have a right to have their privacy respected, and when they are asked to hand over their personal data they have a right to expect it will be protected”.
He said: “The government is committed to ensuring the Privacy Act works for all Australians and is fit for purpose in the digital age.
“This legislation is just the first stage of the government’s commitment to provide individuals with greater control over their personal information.”
