This week we discuss how recent turbulence in geopolitics is translating into impacts on the digital environment.

We explore how the Trump tariffs and general shift towards increased trade protectionism might impact a swathe of tech policy initiatives around the world.

We also look at the increasingly cavalier attitudes to security, privacy, and risk management from the US Government, primarily through the actions of the Department of Government Efficiency, and the extent to which such attitudes might affect Australia as we head to an election.

Links:

Article about potential impacts to News Media Bargaining Code from US tariff policies (ABC News) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-02/media-bargaining-code-tariffs-trump/105124278

US Government list of Foreign Trade Barriers https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/files/Press/Reports/2025NTE.pdf

Article about DOGE increasing cyber security risks (TIME) https://time.com/7268032/doge-cybersecurity-elon-musk/

Article about DOGE cyber security cutes (TechCrunch) https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/11/doge-axes-cisa-red-team-staffers-amid-ongoing-federal-cuts/

Article about war plans shared on Signal (The Atlantic - Paywalled) https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/signal-group-chat-attack-plans-hegseth-goldberg/682176/

Credits:

Editing and post-production by Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio) www.eastcoaststudio.com.au

Music by Bensound.com