per capita submission

per capita submission 1 SUBMISSION TO THE INQUIRY ON THE INFLUENCE AND IMPACTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY FOR THE JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY The Centre of the Public Square (CPS) at Per Capita thanks the Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society and welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission on this important inquiry. [...] In particular, we will address the following points from the Inquiry’s terms of reference: (b) the decision of Meta to abandon deals under the News Media Bargaining Code; (c) the important role of Australian journalism, news and public interest media in countering mis and disinformation on digital platforms; (d) the algorithms, recommender systems and corporate decision making of digital platforms. [...] The ABC credited the funds with hiring more regional and local journalists, and the SBS did the same2, and commercial media were buoyed by the funds, as more recent reactions have shown.3 However, because of the nature of the ‘deal’ brokered to pass the legislation, the Code was built on shaky foundations with no platform actually designated, leading to essentially voluntary participation, as Meta. [...] While there have been some attempts at coordination, such as the Digital Platform Regulators Forum and the Data and Digital Ministers Meeting, the challenges presented by digital platforms and social media are vast, and requires significantly more investment and initiatives. [...] We need to empower news organisations and community channels into creating a public square that protects democracy and accurate news and information, and also develop spaces for Australians to gather online that is safe and designed for respectful debate, deliberation and communication, ones that are about consensus building, cooperation and the pursuit of a healthy civic life.