Australia passes security law, raising fears for press freedom despite
criticism that they could land journalists in jail for reporting on
national security.
Full Story:
The first of a series of
security powers requested by Australia's government to combat Islamist
militants passed through parliament on Wednesday, despite criticism that
they could land journalists in jail for reporting on national security.
Australia
is increasingly concerned over the number of its citizens heading to
Iraq and Syria to fight alongside radical Islamists, and police said
they foiled a plot by the Islamic State group last month to behead a
random Australian citizen.
Conservative Prime Minister Tony
Abbott has warned that the balance between freedom and security "may
have to shift" in the wake of a series of raids targeting what
authorities say are the group's members and supporters.
Under the
legislation, which passed the lower house with support from the main
opposition Labor Party, anyone disclosing information about "special
intelligence operations" could face a decade in prison.
It also
outlaws copying, transcribing, retaining, or recording intelligence
materials, which critics say is a direct response to former damaging
leaks by National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, and vastly
expands the government's power to monitor computers.
The reforms
were needed to update legislation written in the 1970s, Attorney General
George Brandis said, and were in the same spirit as emergency
legislation passed in Britain forcing telecoms firms to retain customer
data.
Justice Minister Michael Keenan said the government made
"no apologies" for trying to protect the secrecy of covert intelligence
operations.
"This bill comprehensively modernises and improves
legislation governing the activities of the Australian intelligence
community. This legislation has been put through a very significant
amount of community consultation, including two bipartisan reviews by
the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security. The
committee recommended sixteen targeted improvements to enhance oversight
accountability in other safe guards and the government excepted every
single one these recommendations," he said.
However, the
Committee to Protect Journalists said it was concerned that the
legislation did not contain an exemption for journalists, which could
mean they could be imprisoned for up to ten years simply for reporting
on national security matters.
The legislation is the first of a
series of laws aimed at beefing up the government's security powers,
including a controversial proposal to make it a crime for an Australian
citizen to travel to any area overseas once the government has declared
it off limits.
Legislation requiring telecommunications providers
to keep metadata and to make it available to police and security
agencies will soon be introduced as well, granting the government
broader access to its citizens' communications.
No comments:
Post a Comment