The Albanese Government have released their consultation paper regarding proposed doxxing laws which has only added to the already considerable confusion about their plans and the harms they are seeking to address.
Any reform must prioritise those who are at risk, and not give the powerful another way to avoid legitimate public criticism and scrutiny.
Greens Senator for NSW Justice and Digital Rights Spokesperson David Shoebridge said:
"These doxxing laws appear to be a knee jerk reaction rather than a serious attempt to identify where doxxing is really occurring and causing harm to individuals.
"While it is heartening to see another step being taken in the reform of the Privacy Act, the current proposal is confused and unhelpful.
"Of the three examples of types of doxxing provided in the consultation, one is clearly doxxing while the other two are margin calls at best, that's a very troubling start.
"The law should respond very seriously to situations where a person's contact information and location are shared with the clear intent for others to cause them harm. That's the core of doxxing and that's what any law reform should target.
"Under this proposal, revealing that an anonymous foul mouthed Twitter account belonged to One Nation MP Mark Latham would be considered doxxing and criminalised. That's bizarre and wrong.
"Likewise the public posting of a direct message containing abuse or threats could also potentially be doxxing according to these examples.
"If this is done poorly, doxxing may end up being used just like our defamation laws which are often used as a weapon to protect the reputations of the rich and powerful rather than a shield for people who genuinely need help," Senator Shoebridge said.
