Technology—the devices, the industry, the political ideology underpinning it, and the policy and legislative agendas around it—present critical tensions for rights and freedoms in the digital age which stand to impact all of us. So how can we have the requisite discussions when the same rhetorical weapons are repeatedly used to crush criticism?

Fembots, sexbots, killerbots, chatbots: all these and more are the subject of Tracey Spicer’s latest book Man Made: How the bias of the past is being built into the future. But while the book offers an overview of the problem just as AI dominates the news, its critical analysis falls short.

If Labor wanted to set itself apart, it could start by promising to implement a range of policy proposals that are already on the table that could contribute to a more expansive idea of online safety. Bolder still, strong opposition against the introduction of rampant surveillance powers, invasive technologies such as facial recognition, and attempts to undermine our digital security would be welcome moves to enhance our collective safety in the digital age.

People who rely on the ability to be anonymous or use pseudonyms online are not bad people, or ‘cowards’, as the prime minister would have us believe. The reality is that anyone seeking community or connection online without the risk of attracting stigma or discrimination in their day-to-day life offline might choose to be anonymous at some point—and they should be allowed to do so.

It’s time for mainstream feminism to understand the role that privacy plays in the societal and technological systems of power we wish to re-imagine, and for privacy advocates to benefit from the ways a feminist lens can enrich how we think about data and technology.