The EU’s new tech sovereignty package aims to reduce reliance on US and Chinese tech giants. Proposals include mandatory public-sector procurement rules, a four-tier sovereignty risk system, incentives to scale up European chip, AI and cloud capacity, and promoting a stronger open source ecosystem.

New Zealand has rushed through a law letting an algorithm decide welfare benefits for pensioners, disabled and ill people. Passed near midnight under urgency with no select committee or public submissions, it echoes Australia's disastrous Robodebt scheme – whose recommended safeguards remain unlegislated three years on.

KPMG Australia's CEO quit after the firm admitted mishandling a whistleblower's claims that audit partners had used confidential client data to win contracts. The scandal is rapidly expanding, with a parliamentary inquiry likely to scrutinise KPMG's own whistleblower hotline service as regulators close in.

Speakers at re:publica 26 traced an arc from ideology to interface to consequence in a world of AI controlled by a handful of tech oligarchs. They argued concentrated power, manufactured consent and hollowing-out of ethical labour practices are all products of choices that can be chosen against – in courts, in workplaces and  in public life

Nearly 80% of tobacco bought by young Australians is illicit, a new study finds, as black market sales boom and weak enforcement undermines decades of public health gains

Today we join a group of 10 like-minded projects in exploring a newway to fund internet freedom. Freedom of expression flourishes when it’s unrestricted by censorship and intrusive surveillance. Help us build tools that protect journalists and human rights defenders

At re:publica 26, three speakers mapped the dangers of cybernetic authoritarianism underpinning generative AI controlled by tech oligarchs and empire builders

Surveillance now ranks among the top three threats to safety of journalists worldwide. Spying on human rights and truth defenders has gone industrial

There’s growing opposition to Meta’s plans to introduce facial recognition to its smart glasses despite being aware of the safety and privacy risks

Nnamdi Emeh suffered another setback this week when his trial was postponed yet again. He has languished in jail for three years despite being granted bail and a release warrant

Government tightens media control through draconian censorship laws, arbitrary detention, journalist murders and economic intimidation in the most significant rollback of press freedom since the 1990s

AI regulation is becoming a major US midterm battleground, with tech-linked groups raising hundreds of millions of dollars to back candidates for or against guardrails — as companies, donors and political allies compete to shape future AI rules