plain.txt

We're back in 2025.

In this episode we break down Meta's decision to cease factchecking and permit dehumanising speech on its platforms.

We explore the likely motivations and impacts of these changes, and the broader takeaways for Australia.

Links:

Article about Meta's factchecking changes (Reuters) https://www.reuters.com/technology/meta-ends-third-party-fact-checking-program-adopts-x-like-community-notes-model-2025-01-07/

Analysis of factchecking changes (Platformer) https://www.platformer.news/meta-trump-pivot-messenger-themes-labor-zuckerberg-wishlist/

Detail on Meta's change to dehumanising speech (Platformer) https://www.platformer.news/meta-new-trans-guidelines-hate-speech/?ref=platformer-newsletter

Oped on factchecking changes (NYT) https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/14/opinion/meta-fact-checking-policy.html

Article on response to factchecking changes (Guardian) https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jan/08/australia-meta-ending-factchecking-facebook-misinformation-sarah-hanson-young

Meta explainer on its factchecking https://transparency.meta.com/en-gb/features/how-fact-checking-works/

Meta's marked up Hateful Conduct Policy (Meta) https://transparency.meta.com/en-gb/policies/community-standards/hateful-conduct/

Blog post on why collective understandings on social media can be dangerous (Programmable Mutter) https://www.programmablemutter.com/p/were-getting-the-social-media-crisis

Blog post about Zuck's weird 'masculine energy' thing (Unmanned) https://sorayachemaly.substack.com/p/1-masculine-energy-or-the-vengeful

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

Music by Bensound.com

For our final episode of 2024, we take an optimistic look at the year that was (after a bit of a throat clearing on the things that bugged us), and what we're looking forward to in 2025.

Our conversation covers developments in AI, privacy reform, social media and the growing digital rights community in Australia.

We'll be taking a break over the summer holidays and will be back in late January.

Links:

Credits:
Editing and post-production by Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio) eastcoaststudio.com.au
Music by Bensound.com

This week we discuss the Australian Government's plan to make 16 the minimum age to access social media.

The plan has broad political support and resonates with many concerned parents, but there's more to it than meets the eye.

We discuss the specifics of how the ban will be implemented (with key elements not yet solved and potentially problematic), and interrogate the underlying philosophical approach of banning social media for kids rather than seeking to make the platforms less harmful for everyone.

Links:

PM media release on ban https://www.pm.gov.au/media/minimum-age-social-media-access-protect-australian-kids

Article about parliamentary inquiry into social media (Guardian) Australian parliamentary inquiry stops short of backing social media ban for under-16s https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/nov/18/australian-parliamentary-inquiry-stops-short-of-backing-social-media-ban-for-under-16s

Open letter from researchers arguing against the ban https://au.reset.tech/uploads/ACRT-Open-letter-re-social-media-bans.pdf

Article about eSafety Commissioner's lack of public support (Crikey) https://www.crikey.com.au/2024/11/19/teen-social-media-ban-esafety-commissioner-julie-inman-grant/#:~:text=When%20Prime%20Minister%20Anthony%20Albanese,in%20rolling%20out%20the%20ban.

Credits:
Editing and post-production by Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio) eastcoaststudio.com.au
Music by Bensound.com

Awareness is growing that the power of many AI tools derives from the fact that they are trained on our personal information.

We discuss how regulators (like Australia's OAIC) are now stepping up their expectations that privacy obligations be adhered to by developers and deployers of AI.

We also explore the case study of Australian start-up harrison.ai - whose AI tool was trained on hundreds of thousands of medical images - and which recently brought the issue of privacy and AI into the spotlight.

Links:

OAIC privacy guidance for GenAI developers https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-guidance-for-organisations-and-government-agencies/guidance-on-privacy-and-developing-and-training-generative-ai-models

OAIC privacy guidance for GenAI deployers https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-guidance-for-organisations-and-government-agencies/guidance-on-privacy-and-the-use-of-commercially-available-ai-products

Crikey reporting on Harrison.ai and I-MED (Crikey) https://www.crikey.com.au/2024/09/19/patient-scan-data-train-artificial-intelligence-consent/

OAIC blog post about GenAI and personal information https://www.oaic.gov.au/news/blog/can-personal-information-be-used-to-develop-or-train-a-generative-ai-model

Article about Harrison.ai (AFR - paywalled) https://www.afr.com/young-rich/the-brothers-making-a-fortune-revolutionising-healthcare-with-ai-20240905-p5k834

Credits:
Editing and post-production by Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio) eastcoaststudio.com.au
Music by Bensound.com

This week on the podcast, our eyes are opened to a remarkable online advertising practice called "real-time bidding". RTB is where an auction involving the sensitive information of online users is initiated as they load up a web page, with advertisers bidding for the space on the page.

Recent reports from Reset.Tech Australia and the Irish Council of Civil Liberties reveal the practice has led to the exposure of sensitive information about users - from purchasing habits through to real-time location and insights into their mental health - and is also fuelling scams and national security concerns.

We discuss the broader implications of this practice, and the options for managing the risks it poses.

Links:
Any Buyer Accepted (Reset.Tech Australia) https://au.reset.tech/news/any-buyer-accepted-unregulated-data-markets-create-personal-security-risks/
Australia’s Hidden Security Crisis (Irish Council of Civil Liberties) https://www.iccl.ie/digital-data/australias-hidden-security-crisis/
Scam Prevention Framework https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/stephen-jones-2022/media-releases/albanese-government-unveils-scams-prevention-framework
Article about US bill to ban sale of personal data to foreign adversaries (The Verge) https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/20/24106991/house-data-broker-foreign-adversaries-bill-passes

Credits:
Editing and post-production by Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio) eastcoaststudio.com.au
Music by Bensound.com

This week on the podcast, we're looking at a promising development in helping Australian organisations manage AI risks.

The Australian Government has released its Voluntary AI Safety Standard, as part of its safe and responsible AI agenda. The Standard features 10 guardrails as a practical blueprint for how Australian organisations can safely and responsibly use and innovate with AI.

We provide our take on the Standard and assessment of the challenges in seeing it adopted across the economy.

Links:

elevenM blog on the Voluntary AI Safety Standard https://elevenm.com.au/blog/breaking-down-the-voluntary-ai-safety-standard/

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

Music by Bensound.com

This week on the podcast, we discuss how the conversation about AI risks seems to be shifting away from the catastrophic, existential, wiping-out-of-humanity type of scenarios.

While the X-risk proponents are still out there, media coverage, regulators and the public at large seem to be homing in on more immediate and tangible AI concerns like discrimination, privacy violations, and misinformation – to name a few.

We explore the reasons for this shift, which includes the fact that many people now have first-hand experience of many AI products - and their limitations.

Links:

Article about over-focus on existential risk (Scientific American) https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/we-need-to-focus-on-ais-real-harms-not-imaginary-existential-risks/

Article about ASIC trial (Crikey) https://www.crikey.com.au/2024/09/03/ai-worse-summarising-information-humans-government-trial/

Article about California AI safety bill SB 1047 https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/29/gavin-veto-ai-safety-bill-00181583

Article about Australia's Voluntary AI Safety Standard (elevenM) https://elevenm.com.au/blog/breaking-down-the-voluntary-ai-safety-standard/

Credits:

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

Music by Bensound.com

After five years of consultation on privacy reforms, the Federal Government has finally introduced legislation into the parliament. Its been billed by the Attorney General as the "first tranche" and a "first step", with promises of more reforms to come.

In this episode, we share our reaction to the bill and break down what's in and what's been left for a later day.

We also explore why comprehensive privacy reforms seem so hard to legislate, particularly as the Government seeks to introduce a suite of other tech reforms and obligations on topics such as social media, AI and digital identity.

Links:
Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22legislation%2Fbills%2Fr7249_first-reps%2F0000%22;rec=0#4d76d5260955459fb4aa15467f77172e
Attorney General's media release https://www.markdreyfus.com/media/media-releases/better-protection-of-australians-privacy-mark-dreyfus-kc-mp/
elevenM analysis of reforms https://elevenm.com.au/blog/its-time-to-uplift-privacy-why-organisations-need-to-act-now-following-new-law-reforms/
Article about reforms and reaction (InnovationAus) https://www.innovationaus.com/timid-privacy-reforms-disappoint-industry-and-advocates/
OAIC reaction https://www.oaic.gov.au/news/media-centre/oaic-welcomes-first-step-in-privacy-reforms
Katharine Kemp reaction (The Conversation) https://theconversation.com/long-overdue-australian-privacy-law-reform-is-here-and-its-still-not-fit-for-the-digital-era-238214

CHOICE on consumer demand for reform https://www.choice.com.au/privacyreform

Credits:
Editing and post-production by Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio) eastcoaststudio.com.au
Music by Bensound.com

This week Arj is joined by elevenM’s resident digital ID ‘aficionado’ Brett Watson to discuss all things digital identity.

In Episode 85 Jordan and Brett unpacked what a digital ID is, what it can do, and the various services and components that make up a digital ID system. Since then, the Australian Government has passed enabling legislation for its digital identity system and is currently consulting on legislative rules.

With the legislation passed, the government is now shifting its focus on digital ID from theory to practice. In a recent speech to the National Press Club, the Minister for Government Services Bill Shorten was raising awareness about the benefits of a digital ID, announcing a proof of concept and pilot of a digital ID capability.

In this episode Arj and Brett discuss digital ID’s (steady) progress over the last year, and explore the risks, challenges and misconceptions that are likely to be a feature of the digital ID conversation over the next 12 months.

Links:

A government explainer on the Digital ID legislation: https://www.digitalidsystem.gov.au/what-is-digital-id/digital-id-act-2024.

The transcript of Minister Shorten’s speech at the National Press Club on 13 August 2024: https://ministers.dss.gov.au/speeches/15616.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s report - ‘Australia’s new digital ID system: finding the right way to implement it’: https://www.aspi.org.au/report/australias-new-digital-id-system-finding-right-way-implement-it.

About Victor Dominello and the government’s myGov advisory group: https://www.innovationaus.com/dominello-to-lead-mygov-advisory-group/.

About the discontinued Gov.UK Verify digital ID system: https://trustcloud.tech/blog/collapse-gov-uk-verify-serious-questions-national-id-systems/

Credits:

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

Music by Bensound.com

This week, Arj is joined by elevenM colleague Jonathan Gadir to explore how the outcome of the upcoming US presidential election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris might impact tech policy.

Drawing on the candidate's statements and constituencies, and the existing commitments of their parties, we explore the potential implications of the November election result on AI, privacy, cyber and tech regulation more broadly.

Links:

Biden executive order on AI https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/10/30/fact-sheet-president-biden-issues-executive-order-on-safe-secure-and-trustworthy-artificial-intelligence/

Article about Trump's plans to axe AI exec order (NextGov) https://www.nextgov.com/artificial-intelligence/2024/07/trump-pledges-ax-bidens-ai-executive-order/397905/

Article about Trump's plans for AI (WaPo) https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/07/16/trump-ai-executive-order-regulations-military/

Article on Harris V Biden on tech policy (Politico) https://www.politico.com/interactives/2024/kamala-harris-joe-biden-platforms/#YG9yzcrKo9

Article about JD Vance warm feelings for FTC https://www.legaldive.com/news/jd-vances-regulatory-romance-with-the-biden-ftc/723236/

Article on Harris v Trump AI policy https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/harris-trump-differ-artificial-intelligence-policy-112390222

Podcast on Silicon Valley being split between the candidates https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/silicon-valleys-political-rifts-are-going-viral/id1500970749?i=1000664348496

Credits:

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

Music by Bensound.com