Digital Rights Watch

The health of Australians cannot be put at risk to profit Big Tech. The Minister for Health, Mark Butler, needs to treat the launch of ChatGPT Health as a catalyst for better AI regulation.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/15/chatgpt-health-ai-chatbot-medical-advice

Grok is being weaponised to digitally remove clothing from women and children's photos and by restricted AI image-generation to paying users, they are effectively monetising the creation of child sexual abuse material and non-consensual deepfakes rather than stopping it.

The first reports of the harms of the social media ban is having on vulnerable kids are out. This is what happens when policy is designed without listening to experts, not tackling the problem of harmful algorithms and business practices and just banning people from accessing parts of the internet.

In news that may not shock anyone, the Trump regime has decided to not only continue privacy invasive border entry biometric data harvesting, but also now forcing the handing over of 5 years worth of social media history to make sure anyone entering the US won't say anything mean about him.

Today the Federal Government has released their National AI Plan, the substance of which reflects a lack of desire to regulate Big Tech’s AI systems before they harm people. They had a great opportunity to regulate Big Tech, but their AI Plan has sold us, and our data, out to the AI companies.

Scammers are going to be targeting children thanks to the social media age ban, imitating age verification tools to steal data, and dodgy 'free VPNs' being promoted to kids.

Full article: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-01/cyber-security-story-scam-warnings-scams/106036670

We encourage everyone to fill it out and let them know what is important to you with this proposed amendment to the Online Safety Act 2021 here: www.infrastructure.g...
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Too much flexibility, lack of clarity with whom the duty of care rests (is the platform owner at fault, or the software vendor?), and the potential for censorship and surveillance under the banner of “care.”
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The Government has just launched a survey to garner community insights for their Digital Duty of Care.

While a legislated digital duty of care is a strong argument, it carries practical risks.
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Data breaches are going to be more common as more sensitive data is stored by companies. Rebecca, and any Australian, should have the right to delete their own data, especially the kind of sensitive data held by IVF companies.

https://digitalrightswatch.org.au/campaigns/right-to-delete/

Last week we launched our campaign for Australia to have a Right to Delete law. Here's a handy explainer on the background behind the campaign.

https://digitalrightswatch.org.au/2025/10/16/your-data-their-rules-australians-need-data-deletion-rights/

Not only is it concerning that unregulated AI use is being reported in the legal system, but also the privacy implications of feeding sensitive documents into a black box AI algorithm.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-03/legal-services-board-of-victoria-warns-lawyers-about-ai-in-court/105916628

We welcome the Albanese government ruling-out a text-and-data-mining exemption for Big Tech.

By itself, this decision is insufficient. The Government needs to recognise that all Australians are creative individuals who deserve protection, not just those who make a living from artistic work.

Australians want better protections for their privacy.

A 'Right to Delete' would mean we could have control over our data, protecting ourselves from the kinds of data breaches we are seeing more and more in the news.

Join our campaign for a Right to Delete now: digitalrightswatch.o...

On its current trajectory, AI is inconsistent with democracy, sustainability, and autonomy By Lizzie O'Shea

We're excited to share a piece written by our very own Chair Lizzie O'Shea.

'AI has been pitched as the great solution of the modern age - but the unfettered growth of this new technology could come at the expense of everything we hold dear.'

Check it out here:

We were pleased to be invited to give evidence for the inquiry into the National Cultural Policy last week.

It's crucial that human rights of individual artists to own their creative works are protected, not exploited.

Video here: youtu.be/sTZCuXuOoIU...

We must be aware of the risks of a lack of human oversight over the work of generative AI. All the more reason for proper AI regulation. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/oct/06/deloitte-to-pay-money-back-to-albanese-government-after-using-ai-in-440000-report

It's almost like banning kids from the internet isn't the answer to predatory social media algorithms pushing radical views and mis / disinformation

Better regulation of Internet Search Engines and Social Media companies is definitely required but the current safety codes under consideration are not adequate. A simple ban of young people from social media will harm them.

Read our full submission here: digitalrightswatch.o...

In it, we call on the committee to reject in their entirety the online safety codes for both Internet Search Engines and Social Media Minimum Age, and delay implementation of the codes until meaningful consultation with expert organisations in the field can inform a better policy direction.

Last week we entered a submission into the "Inquiry into the Internet Search Engine Services Online Safety Code and the under 16 social media ban"

Register here 👇

Adelaide: shorturl.at/ojQRX
Perth: events.humanitix.com...
Brisbane: events.humanitix.com...
Sydney: events.humanitix.com...
Melbourne events.humanitix.com...

Burning Platforms is Australia’s top tech and politics podcast delving into Big Tech and the consequences of its power.

• Learn about the Luddites and how the future can be contested
• Try to tell the difference between an AI and a human
• Ask the tough questions: who knows? who decides? and who decides who decides?
• Featuring special guests from politics and entertainment

Our fun and interactive panel event will canvas the big questions and try to come up with a few answers before this juggernaut goes out of control.

Come along to meet and mingle with people who care.

Our jobs. Our culture. Our democracy. All up for grabs by emerging ‘AI’ technology.

Our fun and interactive panel event will canvass the big questions and try to come up with a few answers. Come along to meet and mingle with people who care.

Adelaide, you're first up!

unisa.edu.au/connect...

Our jobs. Our culture. Our democracy. All up for grabs by emerging 'AI' technology.

Our fun and interactive panel event will canvass the big questions and try to come up with a few answers.

First stop is Adelaide. Grab your free ticket here: unisa.edu.au/connect...

From zero to neo-Nazis: what under-16s may see under Australia’s social media ban, simply by not logging in Guardian Australia test finds scrolling shortform videos while logged out of YouTube and TikTok quickly leads to gambling, violent and far-right content

Rather than ineffective and anti-privacy measures which will still leave vulnerable people exposed to harm, we need to adopt methods of ensuring child safety online that start with dismantling predatory social media algorithms.

Age-verification is an invasion of privacy. The technologies behind it are gender- and racially-biased and least effective where it most matters - for those ages close to 16.
It needs to be abandoned for methods which respect privacy and effectively protect children online.

www.theguardian.com/...

What is “Sovereign AI”?

It is a term often invoked but rarely defined. A National AI Plan is due by the end of 2025 and the Tech Policy Design Institute is holding consultations nationally from 18-26 September to hear from civil society about this. Join in here:

share.hsforms.com/1X...