By Human Rights Watch
© 2026 Glenn Harvey for Human Rights Watch (Brussels, June 18, 2026) – The Bulgarian government between 2018 and 2023 licensed exports of surveillance equipment to countries that were likely to use it for internal repression or to commit serious human rights violations, Human Rights Watch said today.Human Rights Watch previously reviewed data that shows that European Union governments often seem to issue such licenses. Human Rights Watch urged EU institutions to tighten enforcement of laws intended to restrict the export of surveillance technology to places where there is a credible…
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By Jaimie Veale, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of Waikato
Anti-trans policies are often described as protective, but they follow a documented pattern that creates conditions to make exclusion and harm easier to justify.
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By John Freebairn, Professor, Department of Economics, The University of Melbourne
The federal government’s cut to the fuel excise is due to expire at the end of June, meaning the cost of filling up a 65-litre petrol vehicle could rise by about A$19 from July 1.
This week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese left the door open to extending the temporary cut for petrol or for diesel.…
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By Dana McKay, Associate Dean, Interaction, Technology and Information, RMIT University
Michael Cowling, Professor & Director, Hub for Apple Platform Innovation (HAPI), School of Computing Technologies, RMIT University
Social apps like Instagram, TikTok and Facebook are designed to be addictive. What would they look like if we removed the worst features?
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By Charlotte Elliott, PhD Candidate in English (Horror Studies), Flinders University
There’s a new trend in horror fiction: the female cannibal. In Monika Kim’s The Eyes are the Best Part (2025), a college student eats the eyeballs of the men who fetishise her. In Delilah S. Dawson’s Bloom (2023), the love interest, who appears to be living a fantasy version of cottage life, is actually including body parts in her organic homemade goods. In Chelsea…
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Wednesday, June 17, 2026
As online platforms continue to fuel a surge in real-world violence against vulnerable communities, UN Secretary-General António Guterres is warning that freedom of expression must never be used to justify hate speech.
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Wednesday, June 17, 2026
Attacks against human right defenders have reached record levels over the past year, according to a new report issued on Wednesday by the UN human rights office, OHCHR.
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By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
Pauline Hanson’s first-ever – and perhaps only-ever – appearance at the National Press Club was always destined to be one of those political “moments”.
As theatre, the 90-minute performance (including the question-and-answer session) didn’t disappoint, although it will have shocked, indeed appalled, many. Some would be left scratching their heads about how Australian politics has come to this, with Hanson scaling the political heights, at least in the polls and (on recent tests) in votes. But we only have to look abroad and remember we follow the trends.
Here was Hanson…
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By Robert Monterosso, Research Fellow, United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney
Energy security has been front of mind for Asia-Pacific leaders this year. Australia could play a key role in assuring supply of both gas and clean exports.
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By Alicja Kuźmycz, Lecturer, Torrens University Australia
Most people suspect they own too many clothes, but they aren’t sure exactly what the “right amount” is. Recent wardrobe studies, in which researchers literally peek inside peoples’ closets, show the scale of the problem is far greater than most of us imagine.
Sixty years ago, the average person owned about 40 garments.
Today, that number has more than quadrupled, with a recent…
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