A day on the internet can feel like a year, and as Very Online people we barely remember 2018.
New restrictions on the online content Australians can access, legal changes affecting online expression, and a significant cyber attack mean we've dropped two points on their scoring system,, despite having generally good access to the internet because of prices and infrastructure. In September, the eSafety commissioner, Australia's internet watchdog, used her power for the first time to direct ISPs to block websites. She ordered ISPs to stop Australians from accessing eight unknown websites that continued to host Christchurch content, allowing them to lift their previous voluntary restrictions.Chip Somodevilla / Getty Imagesand their companies fined billions of dollars under new laws passed by the Australian Parliament in April 2019.