The Wire

The Australian Senate yesterday passed new laws allowing authorities, including the Australian Federal Police and ASIO, to access social media activity, web browsing history and online conversations of Australian internet users.

The legislation has been passed to allow Australia to join the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime. These laws have come under strong criticism, notably from Greens Senator Scott Ludlam, who claims they are draconian and invade the privacy of millions of innocent Australians. Christopher Testa spoke to the Director of the Centre for Internet Security at the University of Canberra, Nigel Phair. He believes that the law change will assist Australian authorities in fighting cyber crime.