Australia's raids on journalists signal an authoritarian turning point

Yesterday's spectacular series of raids on Australian journalists by the Australian Federal Police are a turning point in how democracies view the role of the press and leaks: the raid targeted News Corp's Annika Smethurst over her reporting on a secret plan to grant the Australian Signals Directorate -- a spy agency -- the power to surveil Australians; 2GB radio's Ben Fordham over his reporting on human rights abuses of refugees; and ABC Sydney's offices over their 2017 Afghan files reports, which documented war-crimes and other misconduct by Australian military personnel.

All of these reports are months or even years old, and yet the Australian police carried out their raids now, prompting many to ask what has changed to inspire these unprecedented attacks on journalism? The most notable and obvious change is legal: Australia's 2018 passage of sweeping new surveillance laws and new secrecy offenses paved the way for the action, which puts at risk such key journalistic virtues as source confidentiality and the courage of the press to challenge and reveal official misconduct.

The Australian authorities insist that the raids were not coordinated and that it's all a coincidence. As Caitlin Johnson points out, that's a hell of a coincidence, and if it's true, it's even scarier than the idea that the raids were coordinated -- instead, it means that Australia's cops and prosecutors have gotten the message that it's open season on public interest journalism and are acting accordingly, with lots more to come.

Australia is a politically unstable state whose governments routinely fail -- the country has gone through five prime ministers since 2013. Read the rest