Australian Communications and Media Authority

• It’s a tricky problem and hard to police because of the sheer amount of misinformation online.
• The COVID-19 pandemic taught us not to be complacent, as fake news about COVID treatments led to deadly consequences.
• It offers more stick (hefty penalties) and less carrot (voluntary participation) than the current approach to managing online content.

Following an EU model

According to the draft, disinformation is spread intentionally, while misinformation is not. But both can cause serious harms including hate speech, financial harm and disruption of public order, according to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). To date, research shows countries tend to approach this problem in three distinct ways:
The Albanese government’s draft bill will bring us closer to the European Union-style model of mandatory co-regulation.

Platforms remain responsible, not government

• To be clear, under the proposed Australian bill, platforms continue to be responsible for the content on their services – not governments.
• Content of private messages, authorised electoral communications, parody and satire, and news media all remain outside the scope of the proposed changes.
• This followed government recommendations arising out of a lengthy Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) inquiry into digital platforms.
• The obvious being that not all platforms decide to participate, and some cherry-pick the areas of the code they will respond to.

The proposed changes

• Under the proposed changes, ACMA will be given new information gathering powers and capacity to formally request an industry association (such as DIGI) vary or replace codes that aren’t up to scratch.
• Platform participation with registered codes will be compulsory and attract warnings, fines and, if unresolved, hefty court-approved penalties for noncompliance.

Questions remain

But the draft bill raises important questions to address before it’s legislated as planned for later this year. Among them are:
While aiming to mitigate harmful mis- and disinformation is noble, how it will work in practice remains to be seen. An important guard against unintended consequences is to ensure ACMA’s powers are carefully defined along with terms and likely circumstances requiring action, with mechanisms for appeal. Public submissions close August 6.

• Australian innovation has the capacity to protect us – our environment, our digital world, our borders and our health.
• But the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) sector has been sounding the alarm for years that our research system is in crisis.
• Reviews in progress – including the Universities Accord, National Science and Research Priorities, and the Australian Research Council – are an opportunity to examine and respond to systemic problems.

More STEM degrees

• The nuclear submarine workforce will be bolstered by $128.5 million for 4,000 new places for tertiary STEM education.
• We’ll never say no to more STEM degrees in this engineer-poor, rapidly innovating world.
• We’re already behind our OECD counterparts – Australia trains an insufficient number of engineers, with just 8.5% of Australian university graduates receiving engineering degrees compared with over 12% in Canada and over 23% in Germany.
• This will continue to build a positive commercialisation environment and lead to more of Australia’s world class research becoming world class innovations.

En route to a net zero superpower

• In a decarbonising global economy, Australia has the potential to be a clean energy superpower.
• The new Net Zero Authority is an important step towards the urgent need to decarbonise and transform our domestic and export energy markets.
• Read more:
  Australia finally has a Net Zero Authority – here's what should top its agenda

  We need a coherent plan for clean energy research, development and deployment, with the backing to realise the vision.

What’s missing from the budget for STEM

• As we await Universities Accord outcomes, the government has avoided supporting the full cost of teaching STEM degrees.
• Nothing has been announced to address urgent STEM professional shortages, and to support STEM workforce diversity.
• Likewise, there’s silence on much-needed industry bodies – a National Engineering Council and the National Indigenous STEM Professional Network.

• The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which formalises their commitment to work together on protecting people from unwanted nuisance calls and spam messaging.
• “I’m pleased the MoU reaffirms our collaborative efforts to protect people against the misuse of their personal data for unlawful electronic marketing practices.
• - The ICO can take action to address and change the behaviour of organisations and individuals that collect, use and keep personal information.
• - To report a concern to the ICO telephone our helpline 0303 123 1113 or go to ico.org.uk/concerns.

• DUBLIN, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Physical Access Control System Global Market Report 2022: Ukraine-Russia War Impact" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
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