RightsCon Tunis 2019

In 2018, Australia passed legislation that provides far-reaching powers to law enforcement to break into encrypted communication systems.  Despite hard work and campaigning from many in civil society in Australia, we lost this fight. We were out-maneuverer, out-flanked and out-gunned. This session will be presented by two people working together from different organisations which were part of the civil society community in Australia fighting this law. The law has crossed dangerous boundaries into backdooring encryption; all eyes were on Australia in the lead up to the dramatic final hours of Parliament’s final 2018 sitting. The Bill became trapped between two houses of Parliament, with federal ministers throwing terrorism taunts, amid political brinksmanship on national security.


This talk is a story and a journey – to figure out how we could have done it better. We want to take the you on that journey. While this is a battle lost, the war is still in play. We talk about how this new law, which may soon be facing a review, may soon impact on other countries’ digital freedoms.

The digital economy is fostering economic growth and democratizing opportunities for emerging market businesses, but growing cybersecurity threats jeopardize long-term economic growth and customers’ digital rights. Despite this, conversations around cybersecurity best practices and policies are still relatively absent from mainstream policy discussions. This panel will invite speakers from the private sector, civil society, and government from around the world to discuss the role of business in leading engagements around improved cybersecurity policy and practices in emerging markets. Speakers will present on how their countries have engaged on related cybersecurity issues and the ramifications for growth and digital rights. This will be followed by a moderated discussion on best practices for implementing strong cybersecurity protections in emerging market businesses, common challenges, policy approaches, and advocacy strategies. The session will conclude by opening the panel for audience questions.