Key events
You know we are getting closer to an election because the amount of social media videos from politicians increase:
Malinauskas says he supports raising social media ban to 16
South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas, who really kicked along the federal government response to social media age verification with its announcement it would be moving forward with an ban on under 14s, has spoken to the media about the federal announcement.
On the age limit, Malinauskas said:
We adopted the position really out of the precedent that came out of Florida that we thought there was a value and consistency there. If the federal government determines that 16 is a better way to go we would support that. I would put a higher premium on consistency across the country. Over and above any particular age. If at 16 so be it. I would welcome that just as long as we have a law passed that puts the obligation on the social media companies and protecting our children.
Keep the Sheep praise Dutton and Littleproud for joining rally
This is part of the donations call from the Keep the Sheep organisation, who are fighting against the (already passed) legislation to phase out the live sheep export industry.
WA is the only state where live sheep exports still occur, with every other state moving to a different export market. WA farmers have vowed to make it an election issue and given WA’s role in helping Labor win majority government in 2022, the campaign has Labor worried.
From the Keep the Sheep donations drive:
We even had the alternative prime minister Peter Dutton and his potential deputy David Littleproud, join us in our fight at the rally.
They are standing with us and will Stop the Ban and Keep the Sheep if elected at the next federal election.
Anthony Albanese, on the other hand, did not front up.
But he can ignore us at his peril.
(The reference to Dutton as the alternative PM, but Littleproud as “potential” deputy also reveals some of the ongoing ructions within the National party and its supporters over the leadership.)
Christopher Knaus
Court to decide whether to fine AGL for taking welfare money from hundreds Australians
The federal court is expected to decide early next year whether to impose financial penalties on energy giant AGL for using Centrepay to wrongly take hundreds of thousands of dollars from the welfare payments of vulnerable Australians.
The court last month ruled that AGL had breached national energy retail rules 16,000 times through its use of Centrepay, a government-run payment system, to deduct money from the welfare payments of roughly 500 people who were no longer its customers. The court ruled AGL contravened the rules by failing to notify the customers and failing to refund the money.
It is now deciding on what relief AGL should be forced to make for the contraventions.
The case appeared briefly before Justice Kylie Downes on Tuesday, where the parties agreed to a hearing on 11 December to decide. Downes indicated that timetable would allow her to make a ruling early next year.
There is still no indication from AGL on whether it will appeal. In the meantime. the Australian Energy Regulator is weighing up whether to take action against three other energy retailers who are accused of similarly misusing Centrepay to wrongly deduct money from the welfare payments of former customers.
Paul Karp
Greens party room meeting discuss Reserve Bank, social media ban and Israel arms sales
The Greens party room have met, discussing Reserve Bank reforms given the Coalition has backed out of a deal with the government to pass them.
On the RBA negotiations with the government, the Greens want:
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To retain section 11, which allows the government to override the RBA on cash rate decisions; and
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To retain Banking Act section 36, which allows the RBA to direct banks where to lend when it engages in quantitative easing
The Greens are calling for a two-way ban (on imports and exports) of weapons and weapon parts with Israel. They noted my colleague Daniel Hurst’s story that foreign affairs minister Penny Wong backed the UK’s decision on arms exports but want a more meaningful commitment in the Australian context.
The Greens also discussed the proposed social media ban, noting that no relevant experts including the eSafety commissioner want the age ban. The minor party is of the view the Labor-Coalition plan will let big tech off the hook from cleaning up their platform, and want more regulation instead.
Social media ban ‘unlikely to keep our children safer’, says expert
More experts are coming out to warn against age verification on social media and gaming apps as a cure to some of the social destruction wrought by bullying and harassment on the apps.
Professor Amanda Third has quite the academic resume: a professorial research fellow in the Institute for Culture & Society; co-director of the Young and Resilient Research Centre at Western Sydney University; and a faculty associate in the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University (2020-2023).
Third says while banning social media for young adolescents “is very seductive, especially for parents”, it is not the answer.
Parents really need support to address their concerns and to find ways to ensure their children can be safe online.
Moreover, bans compel platforms to shift into compliance mode rather than focusing on building optimal digital environments.
While tighter regulation is necessary, I’m concerned that bans are very difficult and costly to enforce, and that those resources are better invested in building better digital environments for children and educating them and their families. Importantly, bans are unlikely to keep our children safer and may indeed risk exposing them to additional harm by creating environments that prevent them from seeking help when they need it.
Bans are unlikely to help those children who are most vulnerable online, which, research shows, are those who are already most socially marginalised and often don’t have the support of trusted adults.
Here is a a selection of some of the grievances farmers are protesting today.
Queensland academic criticises Labor’s planned social media age ban
One of the blog powers that be has directed our attention to a LinkedIn post from Daniel Angus, the director of the Queensland University of Technology’s digital media research centre.
Angus echoes other peak body’s frustrations with the social media age verification push the government has adopted – because it is not based on evidence.
Angus:
The Australian federal government’s reckless decision this morning to impose an age ban on youth using social media – before the joint inquiry into social media in Australia has even issued a proper interim report from hundreds of expert submissions – shows utter disregard for evidence-based policy.
This kneejerk move undermines the joint inquiry and deliberative democratic principles and threatens to create serious harm by excluding young people from meaningful, healthy participation in the digital world, potentially driving them to lower quality online spaces, and removing an important means of social connection.
It also means that very large online platforms are going to be let off the hook in making necessary reforms to the quality of content on their platforms, as this simply places a gate at the door rather than improving what’s on the other side.
If this is how the Anthony Albanese government “listens” to experts, it seems the inquiry was just a sham to begin with. No doubt this populist policy will sell well with the older demographics, but it’s a misguided distraction from the necessary structural reforms that would provide long term benefit to youth in this country.
A truck convoy has arrived in Canberra – better late than never.
The convoy is part of a wider protest from farmers, which Gabrielle Chan talks about in this piece:
The Coalition are now claiming credit for the social media age verification policy the government has adopted.
Anthony Albanese has already given credit to FM radio hosts Fitzy and Wippa. News Corp has also been running a campaign, which the coalition jumped on very early.
Experts in this space however say it is not about age limits, but regulation of the sites themselves.
Earlier this year, I announced that a Coalition government would raise the social media access age to 16, and we would achieve this within our first 100 days in office. pic.twitter.com/7nsUNiIIhj
— Peter Dutton (@PeterDutton_MP) September 10, 2024
