Australia / Asia

  

Forensic tools open new front for using phone data to prosecute journalists

On April 13, police in Russia’s Khakassiya republic arrested Mikhail Afanasyev and seized his digital devices. Afanasyev, chief editor of the online magazine Novy Fokus, was detained based on an article about riot police in southern Siberia refusing to serve in Ukraine. He faces a possible 10-year prison sentence for spreading “false” information.  It’s not surprising for…

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Australia’s journalist union on Facebook, Google, and who should pay for news

Facebook threatened to prevent Australian users and publishers from posting news on its platform last week, raising questions about who benefits when people share journalism on social media—and who has the power to stop them. The company was responding to drafts of a news media bargaining code and related legislation published on July 31 by…

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New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, left, and French President Emmanuel Macron hold a press conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on May 15, 2019. In the wake of a deadly terror attack in Christchurch, tech regulation in the EU and Australia risks restricting journalism. (Yoan Valat/Pool Photo via AP)

In wake of Christchurch, tech regulation in EU and Australia risks restricting journalism

Terrorism has gone viral. The livestreaming on Facebook of the March attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand that news reports said left more than 50 people dead was the latest in a string of terrorist attacks designed for the digital age. More than a dozen world leaders met in Paris last month to…

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