The War On News

A record of government actions against journalism and fact-based reporting, from the first press laws to today

Claim

Claim 476

The journalists' union said the case showed how national-security laws could be misused against public-interest journalism.

Published 2026-09-22. Last reviewed 2026-09-22. 1 source.

Statement
The journalists' union said the case showed how national-security laws could be misused against public-interest journalism.
Field
effect_on_reporting
Value
Press union says security laws were misused
About
incident 2020-australia-high-court-invalidates-smethurst-warrant
Source
AFP won't charge journalist Annika Smethurst after probe of leaked documents
Publisher
SBS News
Method
outlet report
Checked
2026-09-22
Confidence
medium
Status
current
Source date
2020-05-27

Quotation from the source

It shows how Australia's national security laws are being misused in order to criminalise legitimate public interest journalism.