Major win for #metoo and speaking truth to power: Court finds "journalist Priya Ramani not guilty of criminal defamation in a case filed by former Union minister M.J. Akbar [noting] “right of reputation can’t be protected at the cost of right to dignity.”" m.thewire.in/article/law/de…
Here Priya Ramani's 2017 Vogue article (doesn't name Akbar) "To the Harvey Weinsteins of the world: “We’ll get you all one day.”" vogue.in/content/harvey…
First, 71% in Australia say they've used FB in the past week, 39% say they've engaged with news on FB digitalnewsreport.org
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The 39% who have engaged with news on FB tend to be younger, women, more on the political left
Most access online news in many ways (direct,search,social,etc), but @dragz have run the numbers, and in 2020, 8% of 🇦🇺 internet news users say they ONLY get online news via social 2/9
That's maybe a million+ people? They can go elsewhere for news, but some won't. That's a big blow right there. As
we've shown, the effect of incidental exposure on e.g. Facebook is stronger for younger people and those with low interest in news. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14… 3/9
Keep getting calls from journalists and others about the draft Australian News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code so some points to add to the thread I posted last year. I'm glad there is political focus on future of news, but sceptical of draft code as is 1/23
Can policy help sustain independent news media? We know for a fact it can. Is it justified? That’s a political question. I personally believe it is in many cases. Journalism and news, with its many imperfections, is a public good and important for our democracy and societies 2/23
If one recognize that fact, and embrace the idea of policy intervention, are there then options we have reason to believe work? Nothing is perfect, and all this is political, but I think there on balance are, have written about them for years e.g here reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/what-can-be-do… 3/23
On Trump & platforms: A decision can be welcome and still illustrate problematic situation
3 Qs. 1) Consistent enforcement? Companies are often wildly inconsistent in when, where, who they enforce against. Decisions+timing come off as at best arbitrary at worst opportunistic 1/N
E.g. Why now, and not before (outgoing and not sitting president)? Why in the US and not elsewhere (India, Philippines)? Why jihadists but not white domestic terrorists (I have a guess)? Why do they almost all do it at the same time (that’s PR, not rules)?
2) Protection of fundamental rights? In absence of real oversight, the companies are making these decisions unilaterally. Often they do too little. Sometimes they do too much. There is no meaningful due process, and no way to ensure companies practice e.g. Santa Clara Principles.
The @EU_Commission published its proposed European Democracy Action Plan yesterday.
One observation: disinformation parts are very focused on foreign interference and largely avoids recognizing domestic actors, in particular fact that misinformation often comes from the top 1/4
Foreign interference is one important form of disinformation. But it is not the most widespread or necessarily most consequential.
HLG report stressed domestic actors, including politicians, in several places ec.europa.eu/digital-single…
It is clear few will touch this problem
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We can dance arounds this all we will, but problem remain real, in EU too. Some things are clearly false, harmful, and malign. But often, what one person sees as destructive lies, others will see as political speech. Powerful actors like to avoid recognizing this complication 3/4
So, yesterday the @EU_Commission published its action plan with proposals to "Support Recovery and Transformation" in European media, including news.
Sprawling plan for sprawling industry estimated at €193b/year, of which news publishers only a small part.
A few highlights 1/9
One ambition is to foster investment by creating "MEDIA INVEST", with a target "to leverage investments of €400 million over a 7-year period" in hope of "making a significant contribution to addressing the gap in equity financing" (to help transform a €193b/year industry)
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Also, more money for "Creative Europe programme" to €2.2b in 2021-2027 budget (so €300m/year), and "pending finalisation of negotiations, the programme will include for the first time actions focused on media freedom and pluralism, journalism, and media literacy." Exciting! 3/9