Sep 8, 2026 – 4.40pmSenators are demanding the government produce evidence justifying a call by top civil servants to ban MPs from posting unflattering video clips of them on social media, in an escalating row over transparency and parliamentary scrutiny.The Senate is heading for a showdown with the public service after the deputy secretary for security and estate at the Defence Department, Celia Perkins, told a parliamentary inquiry on Friday that officials did “not consent to the reposting of our evidence to social media sites”.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Fetching latest articles