Freedom of speech
‘Copycat’ book bans: How US activists are impacting Australian libraries
Best-selling Australian author Amie Kaufman, whose books have been banned in the US, is warning against importing a culture war over literature.
- by Kerrie O'Brien
Latest
Opinion
Sydney councils
What can we read into this council book ban? Perhaps we lack minority rapport
If we had tempered our self-congratulation over marriage equality, we might have left more outlets for frustration than the brute signal of banning books.
- by Malcolm Knox
Laura Tingle on John Howard and the corrosion of Australia’s national debate
The ABC journalist says we can’t blame Trump or social media for the quality – or lack of – in our national debate.
- by Kerrie O'Brien
Opinion
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
When uni students endorse terror, it’s time for political intervention
The university protests in Australia arising from the Israel-Gaza conflict have moved beyond a debate about free speech.
- by David Crowe
Opinion
Opinion
I’ve seen the fear of Jewish students and colleagues: One academic’s plea to uni protesters
I am no fan of Benjamin Netanyahu and the war he is prosecuting, but I am deeply concerned by the illiberal and simplistic turn that the protests at Sydney University are taking.
- by Catharine Lumby
Updated
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
The pro-Palestine wave tearing some of America’s most prestigious universities apart
American universities are “walking a tightrope” as one of the nation’s most storied higher education institutions becomes the centre of a national student uprising.
- by Farrah Tomazin
Exclusive
Privacy
Doxxers on notice they will face jail time under new laws
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has indicated new anti-doxxing laws will target the non-consensual release of a broad range of personal and private details, with perpetrators to face jail time.
- by Lisa Visentin
Analysis
ABC
Antoinette Lattouf, political opinion and the ABC’s impartiality
The sacking of the casual presenter over social media posts pokes at three sore points in the Australian media: race, Gaza, and political opinion.
- by Michael Bachelard and Calum Jaspan
Exclusive
Social media
Protections for religious expression as Labor revises controversial misinformation laws
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has flagged significant changes to proposed misinformation laws, delaying the introduction of a final bill to parliament until next year.
- by Lisa Visentin
Trump’s ‘small hands’ take centre stage in Supreme Court free speech fight
In a strange twist, lawyers for the Biden administration are effectively trying to prevent Donald Trump from having his name misappropriated in commerce.
- by Farrah Tomazin
Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy faces prosecution in India
Roy faces prosecution under laws relating to promoting enmity, over a speech she gave 13 years ago about the Kashmir region.
- by Sakshi Dayal