If you can’t beat ’em…

Australian government departments should develop an engagement strategy with online influencers and invite them to join the press in attending international and security events.

The downside of doomscrolling

In a world first study on the impact of doomscrolling from an existential perspective, Flinders University researchers warn that habitual checking of disturbing stories on social media is linked with changes to how we view humankind and the meaning of life.

What the experts say…on social media bans for young people

Opposition leader Peter Dutton announced that he would like to implement a social media ban for children, and the Prime Minister followed suit by noting that technology restricting children’s social media access is still being developed but a ban would be a ‘good way to go’. What do Australia’s experts say on the situation?

Keeping track of new technology

The Australian Internet Observatory (AIO) is a major new research infrastructure initiative that will open up the ‘black box’ of digital platforms and their algorithms.

To have and have not

RMIT analysis of 30 years of Australian media articles on personal financial wellbeing has unearthed some glaring gaps in the coverage.

Fake news is old news

News has been falsified for as long as it’s been sold and can be traced as far back as the concept of news itself.

Australia v X

The Australian news cycle has been dominated by the fight between the Australian eSafety Commissioner and Elon Musk’s X Corp (Twitter). As their battle continues to play out, the question of who controls the internet is thrust into the public debate once again.

RIP Internet?

The “dead internet” theory argues that AI and bot-generated content has come to dominate content generation and advertising impressions, leaving real people superfluous to its zombie-like functioning.

Review bombing

Customer reviews on the internet have long been corrupted by shills, Google’s advertising schemes and SEO optimisation, but a tsunami of AI generated garbage is now rendering them useless unless users exercise great care.

The discrete charms of the analogue world

The backlash against digitisation, artificial intelligence and the appropriation of human culture by a handful of technology giants is exemplified by a growing interest in classic analogue synths, rather than their soulless digital successors.

Under siege

The growing cyber, foreign interference, and disinformation threat from hostile state and non-state actors motivates a call for Australia to use all tools of statecraft to help shape the information space.

Online advertising, not social media, killed traditional journalism

Traditional newspapers relied on advertising revenue to subsidise their journalism and so when most adverts shifted online, journalism suffered as a result, and this – rather than the rise of social media – is the crucial factor.