Doxxing to be criminalised under Privacy Act reforms

The federal government will bring forward significant reforms to the Privacy Act and prioritise the criminalisation of “doxxing” in response to leaked group chat messages of Jewish artists and creatives (The Guardian).

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he will “bring forward legislation” including laws dealing with doxxing, which he defined as the “malicious publication of private information online”.

The changes, which will be urgently put before parliament, will make it a criminal offence to engage in doxxing and similar harassment and make broader reforms in response to a long-running review of the Privacy Act (The Age).

Albanese said the laws are in response to the publication of chat logs from a WhatsApp group of Jewish Australian writers and artists.

Those behind the posting of the group chat details have denied engaging in doxxing and released a collective statement on Monday about the “pernicious attempts by individuals, lobby groups and the media to frame it as ‘doxxing’”.

Meanwhile, the opposition has attacked the government over revelations it is yet to apply for the re-detention of any of the near-150 ex-detainees released last year following a High Court ruling (The Conversation).