SYDNEY (Dispatches) – The University of Melbourne in Australia is being investigated for violating privacy laws by using surveillance to identify students participating in a sit-in protest against the genocide in Gaza, local media reported on Monday.
Twenty-one pro-Palestine student protesters at the university were previously served with “general misconduct” notices, which included CCTV footage and detailed records of their WiFi usage, as evidence of alleged misconduct.
The Australian Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner has confirmed it had launched an investigation and indicated that a compliance notice may be issued in case of a significant breach, according to the Australian daily The Age.
A compliance notice mandates an organization to address any breaches within a set timeframe to adhere to the Privacy and Data Protection Act in this instance.
As of 8.00 a.m. on Monday, there has been no response from the University of Melbourne.
Earlier, the university in Australia faced backlash for serving “general misconduct” notices to pro-Palestinian students, with several organizations voicing support for students.
In another development, the University of Leicester’s Palestine Society has criticized the Global South Network’s invitation to the Zionist regime’s top court justice Ruth Ronnen to address an online event hosted at the university.
Ronen is one of 15 justices in the regime’s court and has been involved in a number of rulings that entrench the illegal occupation of Palestinian land, as well as human rights violations against Palestinians.
Last year, Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank village of Anin requested that the gate in the Israeli-built separation wall between their farmland and their village be opened daily instead of twice a week. Ronnen rejected their petition. 
She also ruled along with other judges this January in support of the regime’s military barring foreign journalists from entering the Gaza Strip. 
In February, the families of 62 Palestinians from Gaza detained in Israel filed a petition requesting information about where they were being detained and that they be given legal representation. Ronnen and two other judges dismissed the petition out of hand, citing technical arguments.