Brendan Clift is a Lecturer at Melbourne Law School. He is also a PhD candidate at MLS and holds master’s degrees in law and journalism from the University of Hong Kong and an arts/law double degree from Macquarie University. He is admitted to legal practice in New South Wales and worked around the Asia-Pacific region in law, legal publishing and the media prior to joining academia. Brendan’s research focuses on authoritarian legalism, taking Hong Kong as a case study, and media law, particularly defamation. He also publishes and teaches in other areas, including intellectual property, torts and criminal law, in Australia and Hong Kong. He is a General Editor of the peer-reviewed Media and Arts Law Review, a frequent contributor to major works including Halsbury’s Laws, and a recent co-author of Australian Media Law: 6th edition (2021).