#HeyASIO: online users respond to tough new terror laws with tongue-in-cheek messages

Online users have posted tongue-in-cheek messages on social media in response to the government's first tranche of tougher anti-terrorism laws.

A file photo of the ASIO homepage

(File: AAP)

Online users have posted tongue-in-cheek messages on social media in response to the government's first tranche of tougher anti-terrorism laws.

The new laws beef up the domestic spy agency's powers and passed the Senate on Thursday with bipartisan support.

Anyone who identifies an ASIO agent could also face a decade in prison under the new laws, a tenfold increase in the existing maximum penalty.

In response to these tough new measures, users have posted cheeky messages to ASIO on social media.
Attorney-General George Brandis said in a "newly dangerous age" it was vital that those protecting Australia were equipped with the powers and capabilities they needed.

The bill will now be sent to the House of Representatives, where passage is all but guaranteed.

The legislation addresses a number of recommendations of a bipartisan joint parliamentary inquiry into Australia's national security laws.

It allows ASIO to access third party computers and apply one warrant to multiple devices. 




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By Lin Taylor

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