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In recent years, news media have increased reporting about alleged foreign interference in universities worldwide. A flurry of new policies has followed. This article reviews discourse and policy on foreign interference in higher education in select countries. It identifies the alleged perpetrators and victims, the victims' concerns and responses, and the voices shaping the narrative about foreign interference. We combine the concepts of sharp power and right-wing authoritarianism to inform a discourse analysis and comparative policy analysis of a data set of 161 news articles and related media sources spanning a 30-month period of 2019-2021. Our findings highlight how government actors within the United States and Australia drive the international English-language discourse about Chinese foreign interference in a polarized media environment. We observe well-founded fears of China's exploitation of international students and research collaborations to the detriment of national security. At the same time, a resurgent worldwide authoritarian movement is also exploiting these concerns to augment longstanding assaults on higher education. Our study helps to bridge the gap between the primarily positive framing of the internationalization of higher education in scholarly discourse and the negative focus on foreign interference in higher education in the media, government, and other public discourse. It also serves as an important introduction to this phenomenon and call to action for scholars of the internationalization of higher education to conduct further research and actively engage in the broader discourse around this topic.

Speech at Australian universities is restricted in various ways. A few of them, such as student protests against visiting speakers, receive lots of attention. Others seldom do, such as defamation threats and cyber harassment. Self-censorship may be more significant than overt censorship. Those who want to raise awareness of hidden limitations on speech can learn from the methods used to raise the alarm about student protests.

What do attacks on 'unpalatable' research reveal about academic freedom? When academic work is curtailed, this cherished yet misunderstood concept is undermined. Silencing based on moral objection -- rather than wrongdoing -- suggests academic freedom is more constrained than we believe. On paper, academic freedom is rule-bound, yet 'dangerous' ideas produce overwhelmingly visceral reactions. It was these emotional responses I examined to explore the difference between what we believe academic freedom to be, and how it manifests in contentious fields. I conducted qualitative interviews with 18 researchers whose work elicited condemnation or constraint beyond 'legitimate' scholarly critique. I used mixed-methods data analysis to determine shared themes and characteristics. While academic institutions uphold their commitment to unfettered enquiry, 'academic freedom' is highly contingent and subject to the values of players in a range of disciplinary and institutional fields that together yield a generalised field of 'academic research'. This research challenges assumptions about 'freedom' by identifying parameters that bound the notion. I argue the concept is indeed bounded, and that academics become aware of those bounds when they bump up -- often unexpectedly -- against them.

Policymakers are considering initiatives to reduce potential harms of pornography, including educational and legislative approaches. In determining the appropriateness of policies, however, it is important to consider community attitudes. We conducted an online survey with a convenience sample of 1272 young people aged 15-29 in Australia, recruited via social media. Seventy-four per cent reported having watched pornography in the past year. Participants were asked whether they believed that pornography was harmful, and whether they supported or opposed five different kinds of initiatives. Most (65%) believed that pornography was 'harmful for some people but not everyone', 11% believed it was 'harmful for everyone', 7% harmful for children only, and 17% believed it was not harmful. Eighty-five per cent supported school-based pornography education, 57% supported national education campaigns about pornography, 22% supported a national filter to block all access to pornography, 63% supported requiring condom use in all pornography, and 66% supported banning violence in pornography. Extended responses demonstrated that despite general support for policies, many participants were concerned about how these would be implemented, for example, with respect to the content of education and definitions of violence. Participants wanted initiatives to be implemented in a way that did not introduce harm or shame pornography users.

This paper explores student self-censorship within an online learning environment. Self-censorship in group activity can be seen as a two-edged sword. While it can be advantageous that a student censor personal frustration and angst when working with others, if the self-censorship impacts on the cognitive contribution a student makes then this may significantly impact upon the overall quality of the group's collective knowledge artefact. This paper reports on a study where it was found that students had self censored both their feelings and ideas as they collaboratively worked together. (Contains 1 footnote and 3 tables.)

Censorship, says Australian political theorist John Keane (1991), can "echo within us, take up residence within ourselves, spying on us, a private amanuensis who reminds us never to go too far... It makes us zip our lips, tremble and think twice" (p. 39). It can also make us sick. The author states that this is her argument here: that, in the context of higher education, the demands made on academics by the commercial-in-confidence university, particularly for censorship of self and others, are detrimental to their health and wellbeing.

Australian Protestant schools have often been depicted as sites that restrict knowledge. This paper presents the findings of a 2010-2013 field study of 137 teachers, exploring the nature and extent of Protestant School English teacher self-censorship when excluding and selecting texts to teach. In both survey and interview data, I find that the Protestant school English teacher sample was more active in text selection than exclusion, and found no clear evidence of institutional directives from schools or sector governance regarding English text exclusion and selection. The study also found that patterns of text exclusion were unlikely to be particularly different to those of state school teachers, but selection was more affected by religious concerns, despite the range of text titles appearing to be similar across both sectors. Additionally, self-censorship as a part of an anticipated parent complaint is also examined. The study also found that the Protestant school English teachers appeared concerned about anticipated institutional interference than there was warrant for in the data, and more than their own personal faith perspectives required. This appeared to indicate that Protestant school teachers may be hyper-engaged in questions about how their text selections and exclusions align with their own ideological beliefs and those of their employing institution. In the case of the English teachers in the sample, it would appear that the Protestant schools tended to be ideologically generative, rather restricted knowledge sites.

In Australia, the university ethics approval process is guided by the "National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research." The "National Statement" does not provide a hurdle to be overcome or avoided, nor is it a Godzilla-like monster that must be slain for "truth" to survive. Rather the "National Statement" provides an affirmation of an abiding respect for all life and a mechanism for beginning the intelligent questioning, theorization and contextualization for a work of art. Focusing specifically on the emergent discipline of artistic research, this article addresses the question of how the supervisory process may take on the "spirit" of the "National Statement" to engender genuine ethical debate, rather than merely focus on the instrumental obstacles that seem to get in the way of the research. It specifically addresses the emergent field of artistic research and the concomitant resistance to ethical regulation of artistic research, in which bureaucratic instrumentalism and compliance or censorship are considered to potentially emasculate the vitality of an art work and the ability of art to serve as a truthsayer or agent provocateur. In this, the attitude of the supervisor toward research ethics in artistic research is considered a key factor in determining their students attitudes towards the ethics process. This article will present several initiatives undertaken with the intent of more fully engaging supervisors and students with research ethics.

Exploring Australian school text censorship has a long pedigree in "English in Australia." This article aims to contribute by observing attempts by parents to censor English texts in religious schools. A brief summary of "EIA"'s previous approaches is followed by an explanation of the method of my research with NSW Protestant and NSW state school teachers. A review of the published history of Australian parental school text "complaints" (also termed "challenges") then precedes a quantification of the impacts of parental challenges. Challenge reasons are then collated for both sectors. The higher prevalence of complaints about sexual content and depictions of the supernatural in Protestant schools is examined, and some inferences made about the perceptions of parents: their views about text, reading mechanics, spirituality and educational power.

Proponents and opponents of euthanasia have argued passionately about whether it should be legalized. In Australia in the mid-1990s, following the world's first legal euthanasia deaths, Dr. Philip Nitschke initiated a different approach: a search for do-it-yourself technological means of dying with dignity. The Australian government has opposed this effort, especially through heavy censorship. The citizen efforts led by Nitschke have the potential to move the euthanasia issue from a debate about legalization to a struggle over technology.

This paper reports on accidental ethnographic research. It arose unexpectedly out of the everyday teaching of first-year pre-service primary teachers at an Australian university. Via narrative, self-reflexivity, and student responses, we explore the interwoven workings of heteronormative, gendernormative and misogynist discourses when a chapter from "Queering Elementary Education" in the Course Reader created controversy, moral panic and resistance among students. The paper then charts the implementation of various strategies and interventions by the three authors of the paper: Greg, the lecturer; Maria, the Reading's author; and Steph, the Reading's protagonist. While outlining the subsequent shifts in student responses and discourses, we also problematise particular aspects of the processes of intervention where they still point to the insidious power and overarching framework of heteronormativity and gendernormativity that require ongoing challenges.

Discussion of censorship in school libraries focuses on Australia. Topics include control of content and access to digital texts, including filtering and Internet access; print resources; documented library policies; the core purpose of school libraries and selecting materials for library collections; and examples of challenges. (LRW)

In 1977, religious fundamentalists in Queensland attacked MACOS, a primary social studies course. Content analysis of fundamentalist writings and MACOS materials shows them diametrically opposed in cultural presuppositions. Subsequent government banning of MACOS is seen as a political move to enforce on schools the views of the political elite. (SJL)

Citing Dewey and Plato, the author presents a metaphysical and a political analysis of the Queensland Government's banning of two social studies programs: Man: A Course of Study and the Social Education Materials Project. Arguments of both the programs' attackers and defenders are critiqued. (SJL)

Summarizes arguments for and against Internet censorship written by two contributors to "The Australian" June 24, 1994. The former arguing that censorship is necessary but how controls are developed and who controls them must be confronted, the latter that teaching children how to live in an uncensorable world is the solution. (PEN)

This article analyses Australian news photographs of Jewish refugees during two pivotal eras: from 1935 to 1939, when increasing numbers of refugees sought asylum from Nazi persecution in Europe; and from 1945, in the wake of the Holocaust, as the Australian federal Labor government was formalising Australian citizenship and embarking on a program of expanded immigration, while still adhering to the restrictive White Australia policy. The article argues that the visual record of Jewish refugees was significant in conveying three specific if contradictory visual idioms: Australia as a sanctuary; the ideal of the 'good citizen', easily assimilated; and the refugee as a source of threat and disruption. Editorial regulation, political context and government censorship were fundamental to the news mediations of belonging and citizenship. The article shows that after the war, the Australian federal government sought to manage these press narratives, signalling the tenuous place of refugees in modern Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In February 2020 the World Health Organization declared an 'infodemic' in relation to COVID-19. The label infers that people are being contaminated by 'misinformation' as they would be by a virus. However, this metaphor conveys a simplistic empirical understanding of communication, which may encourage 'information control' responses. This article argues for the importance of understanding the diverse factors that impact the effectiveness of communication – including the context in which it is received, and the emergent properties created through communication processes. Analyzing 'vaccine-critical' Facebook activity in Australia between 1 December 2020 and 28 February 2022, we find that controlling access to or censoring vaccine-critical misinformation does not lead to a reduction in vaccine-critical narratives. Rather, discussions continue based on more tenable political and social arguments. Further, bans antagonize vaccine-critical Facebook users and encourage them to move to other platforms where they may be radicalized. Crucially, recruitment to vaccine-critical sites accelerated following both bans of 'misinformation' and the introduction of vaccine mandates, suggesting that such responses can lead to increased discontentment. Accordingly, we call for researchers, policy makers and media platforms to engage with a more nuanced view of communication, acknowledging the powerful role of audiences' uses and gratifications in determining the effectiveness of public health messaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. The goal of the paper is to identify, investigate and present the official ways of controlling the press in Australia in the 1930s and the ways in which editors and publishers of Croatian newspapers in Australia avoided censorship. This was the time when publications in foreign languages were checked before granting permission to publish, and within the Australian Croatian community the primary language of communication was Croatian. Based on the research, a list of all Croatian newspapers that were published in Australia in the early 1930s is compiled. Approach/methodology/design. The methods used in the research are the method of structured search of online public institutions' catalogues (primarily libraries and archives in Australia), content analysis of archival sources and publications, and the method of involving the Croatian community in Australia. Results. The research resulted in new findings about publications and their editing in the observed period. The social framework for publishing newspapers was researched and presented, and ways to avoid censorship were identified. Each way to avoid censorship is documented and described on the basis of archival sources or a few preserved publications. The research has identified publications that were published in the observed timeframe; the basic data on their publication and editing practices have been investigated. Originality/value. Two publications discovered during the research are described in the paper (Oganj and Iskra). In addition, one publication (one issue of Borba) was found, which was mentioned in the literature, but the bibliographic elements and technical characteristics have never been analysed and the place of storage was not known. All three publications have been digitized and are freely accessible at the links provided in the paper. Furthermore, the research has shown that one publication, which has so far been cited as the publication of Croats in Australia, was not actually published in Australia (Proleter). A list of publications published by Croats in Australia in the early 1930s was compiled on the basis of archival documents, and the ways of conducting and avoiding censorship were presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the period between the outbreak of war in August 1914, and the first major engagement for Australian troops in April 1915 on Gallipoli, the Queensland press in Australia articulated a vision of the conflict framed by binary opposites. The most pervasive of these was the positioning of German militarism and lust for conquest as the antithesis of the civilized values embodied in Pax Britannica. The approach of the newspapers over the course of these nine months can be divided neatly into two distinct though overlapping themes—why the Germans fought and how they fought. In its exploration of these issues, the Queensland press demonized the Germans for their perceived barbarism and disregard for civilized norms. In contrast, the perceived righteousness of the British cause facilitated a celebration of Australian nationalism and imperial loyalty as complementary imperatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'It's like we are operating in a bubble,' says EMTV deputy news editor Scott Waide from Papua New Guinea at the Melanesia Media Freedom Forum (MMFF). 'But when you start reaching out, talking to others in the region, you find that you are not actually alone in this. The experiences are similar. The intensity varies, but the take home for me is that nobody should be alone to handle their problems on their own'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subject of the article is the security and defence policy of Australia in the 2010s in view of the rapidly growing power of the People's Republic of China. The article analyses issues such as the potential, values, interests and threats of Australia; strategic dimension of Australia's security and defence policy; Australia's cooperation with the United States in the context of the rise of China; and Australia's attitude towards China's assertive actions in the Asia- Pacifi c. The aim of the article is to analyse and evaluate Australia's security and defence policy towards the growing power of China. The main research problem is included in the question of whether Australia adequately and suffi ciently responds to the increasing military potential of the Middle Kingdom. The thesis of the article assumes that while the directions of Australian policy are justifi ed, its scale is insuffi cient. The most important elements in securing interests in the context of China's growing power is increasing its own defence capabilities and deepening multi-faceted cooperation with allies and partners of the Pacifi c region. This must be accompanied by caring for the correctness of relations with China and efforts to reduce tensions between the People's Republic of China and the United States. The article is based on the theory of structural realism of the defensive type. The article uses the method of source text analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]