Most of you would be aware of the impacts that the major social media corporations have on individuals’ algorithms and overall content viewing but over the years it has become evident that they are not the only ones regulating the content which you consume.
The Australian Federal Government passed a new Online Safety Act last year, allowing them to have more control over what content is allowed online.
As well as these two major contributors to regulations online, other powerful businesses including internet providers, modem companies and others within the technology sector also have a large amount of control as to what codes are used to prevent content from reaching an individual’s online space.
The different codes/regulations that are put on different social platforms and devices can be confusing and unclear and can result in continual grey areas arising which ultimately can cause conflict.
“These are really hard categories to apply at any sort of ‘internet scale’ because you very clearly run up into all of the grey areas.”
Dr Nicolas Suzor (Researcher of internet governance at the Queensland University of Technology)
Do you think Australia is taking the correct approach to monitoring and censoring content?
It is argued that the lack of consistency and exposure to difficult or taboo topics cause more harm than speaking about them.
“The broader issues of what constitutes harm then starts to merge into freedom of speech issues, but also transparency and accountability.”
Dr Nicolas Suzor (Researcher of internet governance at the Queensland University of Technology)
Are some of these regulations out of date? Is this affecting your business practices as well as your personal online use?
Let us know your thoughts on our current online regulations via our social channels @swimcomm