Author: Daniel Angus, Professor of Digital Communication, Director of QUT Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology

The federal government today introduced into parliament legislation for its social media ban for people under 16 years. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said: This is about protecting young people, not punishing or isolating them, and letting parents know we’re in their corner when it comes to supporting their children’s health and wellbeing. Up until now details of how the ban would actually work have been scarce. Today’s bill provides a more complete picture. But many ambiguities – and problems – still remain. What’s in the bill? Today’s bill is an amendment of the Online Safety Act. It introduces a new…

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The federal government this week introduced a new bill into parliament aimed at cracking down on the spread of misinformation and disinformation on the internet. The government also this week announced plans to ban young people from social media platforms and improve privacy protections. These moves have been criticised by experts, who say bans are ineffective, and privacy reforms fall short of what is required in the digital age. The government published a draft of the new misinformation and disinformation bill last year for public consultation. It received more more than 24,000 responses (including from my colleagues and me). The…

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