Andrew Lowenthal

Digital Civil Liberties
CEO:

[Dave Hughes @DHughesy]

We are watching now. No one elected this billionaire. He doesn’t get to decide what Australians put online. Labor are doing the bidding of very rich people and it’s sending the country broke.

[UnHerd @unherd]

The Government has said its ban on under-16s using eBay and Vinted is for child safety.

Why is Labour using kids as an excuse for more authoritarianism? @moveincircles 👇

https://t.co/wvv6gcJfVT

[Kat A 🌸 @SaiKate108]

Upon deeper analysis The Digital Duty of Care Bill seems designed as part of a global censorship push to introduce sweeping surveillance powers.

Incredible analysis from Margaret Chamber ( institute of Public Affairs) who has uncovered a hidden amendment to the Privacy Act which unleashes the eSafety Commissioner’s ability to gather massive information on people.

Where information on political views, biometric data, religious believes, ethnicity could be collected without consent and could be shared overseas with regulators like OfCom.

[Senator Sarah Henderson @SenSHenderson]

This is nuts.

Under Labor’s digital duty of care censorship bill, every Australian business, organisation and community group which runs a website, blog or social media account would be required to conduct an annual risk assessment, even if there’s no online safety risk.

At our Senate inquiry into this deeply flawed bill, the Australian Computer Society even argued this should only be done by people with approved professional standards.

That means more compliance costs, more red tape, and another hit to small business.

[Andrew Lowenthal @NAffects]

New article with @MikeNayna and @shellenberger detailing the global surveillance implications of Australia's proposed Digital Duty of Care.

[Michael Shellenberger @shellenberger]

EXCLUSIVE: New censorship legislation would let the Australian government spy on US & European citizens and report "sensitive information" about their lawful political opinions, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, and health records to foreign spy agencies, including the FBI.

[Michael Arbon @arbsmichael]

I was recently joined by barrister and civil liberties advocate Greg Barns SC to discuss the Digital Duty of Care Bill, social media restrictions, and Victoria’s upcoming election.

[Silkie Carlo @silkiecarlo]

UK Government internet policy is now “if there is somewhere where people can talk to each other, they need to show their ID” 🫠

It’s not a serious policy to keep children safe - it’s just creating an authoritarian checkpoint internet. We can’t allow it.

https://t.co/72TQ7WDXmA

[Andrew Lowenthal @NAffects]

The Digital Duty of Care is a warrantless surveillance bill.

[The Information Rights Project @theinforights]

Open your group chat. The school parents. The strike committee. Scroll to the member who joined three weeks ago and never speaks.

Under the censorship Bill, that can be the government. No warrant. Everything you've typed, recorded and kept. You can't sue.

[Mary Harrington @moveincircles]

RIP internet of things, you were mostly pointless while you lasted

[Michael Nayna @MikeNayna]

https://t.co/63y58yc7Pn

[Reclaim The Net @ReclaimTheNetHQ]

Texas is making every social media user prove their age before they can open an account. That means adults too, not just kids. The full Fifth Circuit is now rehearing the case against the SCOPE Act, and the age checks aren’t even up for debate. The only question left is whether Texas also gets to filter what teenagers see.

https://t.co/dnnpv9M4Hl

[Andrew Lowenthal @NAffects]

@sam_ikin @shellenberger @MikeNayna and I wrote that story. We are both Australian. Michael has generously published us on his platform. Thank you.

[Big Brother Watch @BigBrotherWatch]

📵 A ‘social media ban’ isn't a policy for children's online safety - it's a national ID scheme by the back door.

Here are five things the government will not tell you about a social media ban ⤵️

[Reclaim The Net @ReclaimTheNetHQ]

Alabama passed a law, 138 votes to nothing, that makes every phone user in the state prove their age before downloading a single app.

A 45-year-old who wants a news app has to hand ID to Google first. Existing accounts get no pass either. Every one of them must be verified by October 2027.

Teenagers will need a parent’s sign-off to install Wikipedia, Duolingo or a Bible app, and kids without a parent to ask get locked out completely.

Apple, Google and Amazon’s lobby group has now sued to block it on First Amendment grounds.

https://t.co/XeVq4GvSC9

[Dave Hughes @DHughesy]

This is all so corrupt. We need transparency in government, not billionaires pulling the strings behind the scenes. They always get richer and the honest Australian pays the bill.

[Michael Shellenberger @shellenberger]

Taxpayers gave mining titan Twiggy Forrest's Fortescu A$308M in energy subsidies in 2025 alone, plus A$99M for an H2 project he abandoned. In exchange, Forrest gave millions for propaganda to pass @AlboMP government's censorship bill. It's a transparent, sinister quid pro quo.

[Michael Nayna @MikeNayna]

We followed a Minderoo Foundation production credit on ABC’s The State of Man into Twiggy Forrest’s massive web of funding behind the Digital Duty of Care.

The play appears to be stoking panic over the “manosphere” to build support for Labor’s Bill. @NAffects @shellenberger

[The Information Rights Project @theinforights]

Sign before the Senate does. https://t.co/QxMtFPUWdS

[Andrew Lowenthal @NAffects]

Which begs the question, why are dozens of "progressive" NGOs pushing this bill?

[The Information Rights Project @theinforights]

This week, your Parliament voted to let platforms delete your posts without telling you why, diminish press freedom, and to let the government run fake accounts in your group chats.

No warrant. No appeal. 48 hours ago that was a draft.

Now it's one vote from law.