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Speaker 1: The Federal Joint Committee on Social Media and Australian Society

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Speaker 1: is conducting public hearings as part of an inquiry into

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Speaker 1: the influence and the impacts of social media on Australian society.

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Speaker 1: The Committee is exploring the decision of Meta to abandon

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Speaker 1: deals under the News Media Bargaining Code, the important role

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Speaker 1: of Australian news and public interest journalism in countering misinformation

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Speaker 1: on digital platforms, and broader issues relating to the influencers

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Speaker 1: and the impacts of what Australians see on social media. Now,

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Speaker 1: locals are going to have the chance to make submissions

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Speaker 1: to the Committee at a public hearing this evening at

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Speaker 1: the Railway Club in per rap And joining us in

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Speaker 1: the studio to tell us more about this is the

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Speaker 1: Federal Member for Solomon, Labour's Federal Member for Solomon, Luke Goslin.

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Speaker 1: Good morning to you morning, Katie. Thanks so much for

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Speaker 1: your time this morning. Louke, tell us what sparked this inquiry.

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Speaker 2: One of the main reasons or catalysts for us calling

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Speaker 2: this Joint Select Committee was the decisions of Meta, which

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Speaker 2: is Facebook. Most of your listeners would understand or have

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Speaker 2: heard that they have a bandoned the news media Bargaining

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Speaker 2: code in this country, So basically they've said that they

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Speaker 2: won't pay at all for any news content to be

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Speaker 2: shown on their platforms. And what that does is, you know,

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Speaker 2: it not only dishonors all the journalists out there and

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Speaker 2: the companies that work hard to bring us proper, informed,

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Speaker 2: fact checked news, but it also leaves the door open

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Speaker 2: for a lot more misinformation and disinformation. And we already

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Speaker 2: know that that's a major problem. People only have to

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Speaker 2: think back to the unsuccessful assassination attempt on Donald Trump

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Speaker 2: and all misinformation and disinformation that came out about that,

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Speaker 2: but also scams and all these things become a lot

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Speaker 2: more likely if these big social media companies aren't held

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Speaker 2: to account in any way.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, look, I've got a real issue with it in

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Speaker 1: the sense that obviously, media outlets have their rules, regulations,

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Speaker 1: codes that we have to abide by before we jump

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Speaker 1: on air and you know, make statements or read out

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Speaker 1: information that is not correct, and there's also a process

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Speaker 1: that people can go through to make it complaint if

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Speaker 1: they're not happy about something that's reported or heard. You know,

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Speaker 1: then when you go to social media, very often, you know,

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Speaker 1: different information can go up online on social media, and

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Speaker 1: not only are you unsure if it's been fact checked,

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Speaker 1: but secondary to that, it's really difficult to make a complaint,

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Speaker 1: even if you're sort of you know, like when you

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Speaker 1: do try to contact Facebook or Instagram or wherever it

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Speaker 1: might be. It's really hard even for somebody like me

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Speaker 1: that's pretty good at navigating those social arenas. So I

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Speaker 1: can't even begin to imagine what it's like for somebody

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Speaker 1: who's maybe a bit of a technophobe.

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Speaker 2: A bit of a technophobe, or just more vulnerable, more

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Speaker 2: susceptible and Cadie. I have heartbreaking stories, or not just stories.

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Speaker 2: People come into my office and just say, look, I'm unsure.

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Speaker 2: I've sent a lot of money to this person who

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Speaker 2: keeps contacting me through social media, and I've given them

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Speaker 2: tens of thousands of dollars and I look at it

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Speaker 2: and just go, I'm really sorry, but you've been scammed,

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Speaker 2: and we report it because we've set up the Scam Center.

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Speaker 2: But the fact of the matter is there's so much

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Speaker 2: harmful and illegal content on social media these days, and

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Speaker 2: there is a lot of evidence that the algorithms that

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Speaker 2: the companies are using and they pray on young women,

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Speaker 2: for example, and start if they sense their algorithms are

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Speaker 2: so complex and detailed, if they sense that this is

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Speaker 2: someone who's worried about their body image because of what

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Speaker 2: they've been looking at, they'll start putting more and more

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Speaker 2: of that sort of content their way, because then they

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Speaker 2: use that for advertising and the whole thing needs to

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Speaker 2: be looked at because and that's what this inquiry is doing,

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Speaker 2: because the impact on mental health is just enormous.

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Speaker 1: It really is. So lok. Has the committee already heard

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Speaker 1: from some of the key players.

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Speaker 2: It has and people can get onto the inquiry website

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Speaker 2: via the austram Parliament House website so aph dot dot

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Speaker 2: au go to inquiries and this one which is the

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Speaker 2: Social Media and Australian Society Inquiries and people can read

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Speaker 2: the submissions. Formal submissions have closed. But my good friend

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Speaker 2: Kate Thwaits from Melbourne, who is chairing this inquiry, she's

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Speaker 2: in Darwin tonight. So what I'm doing and thanks for

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Speaker 2: having me on because I've got the opportunity to invite

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Speaker 2: your listeners along to the Railway Club at six point

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Speaker 2: thirty pm tonight where they can give feedback direct to

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Speaker 2: the chair of that committee that will be taken into

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Speaker 2: account and be really helpful for me but for Kate

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Speaker 2: also to hear what sort of experience as Territorians have

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Speaker 2: been having on social media and that will enable that

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Speaker 2: feedback to go into the interim report which is due

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Speaker 2: on the fifteenth of August and then the final report

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Speaker 2: by the eighteenth of November this year, and then obviously

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Speaker 2: our government obviously this is a bipartisan thing. Both the

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Speaker 2: Prime Minister and the leader of the Opposition have talked

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Speaker 2: about concerns around age verification and how we're going to

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Speaker 2: protect young kids from the harms of social media. So

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Speaker 2: all that is part of this inquiry, which is a

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Speaker 2: bipartisan inquiry and will come up with recommendations on how

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Speaker 2: we are going to deal with some of these really

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Speaker 2: challenging issues in social media.

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Speaker 1: What do you hope comes out of the inquiry, particularly

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Speaker 1: for Territorians.

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Speaker 2: I hope that the big social media giants, you know,

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Speaker 2: whether it be Meta, Instagram and Facebook or any of

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Speaker 2: the others, really start to understand that the social license

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Speaker 2: is what they should be aiming for. Social license is

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Speaker 2: you make yourself accountable if you want to do business

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Speaker 2: in Australia and take money from Australians and Australian businesses

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Speaker 2: through your platforms. Then you don't get that for free.

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Speaker 2: You have to say that you'll be accountable to a

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Speaker 2: process like you say, Katie, that's got got that complaint mechanism.

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Speaker 2: But also you're doing the right thing by Australian media

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Speaker 2: outlets and if you're showing their media, you honor that.

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Speaker 2: In the same way if those your station or any

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Speaker 2: other stations plays a song of an artist or a

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Speaker 2: little bit goes to the artist. Yes, if you're using

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Speaker 2: content from another company you should honor. That's part of it.

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Speaker 2: But also protecting particularly vulnerable Austrains, but all Australians from scams,

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Speaker 2: disgusting child sexual abuse and violent extremist material that is

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Speaker 2: making its way into social media has an impact on

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Speaker 2: people's mental health as well as being really dangerous.

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Speaker 1: I mean, does the government need to get tougher on

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Speaker 1: some of these social media you know, like some of

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Speaker 1: these different companies and and you know there be some

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Speaker 1: repercussions if they are allowing things to go up online

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Speaker 1: that shouldn't a.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, Caddy, And that's part of this inquiry as well.

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Speaker 2: What should that look like, And any of your listeners

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Speaker 2: who read the Sunday Territory In a couple of weeks ago,

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Speaker 2: I put an opinion piece in the Sunday Territory and

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Speaker 2: saying exactly that they've become a very rich good luck

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Speaker 2: to them, but there's been a lack of accountability for

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Speaker 2: when they do allow this violent extremism or the stuff

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Speaker 2: that's damaging our kids. It's exploiting our kids. But they've

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Speaker 2: just got off scot free. So we're just saying through

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Speaker 2: this we're going to hear from Australians and those ramifications

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Speaker 2: for those companies through the Australian legal system. That is

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Speaker 2: what we're looking to make recommendations on.

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Speaker 1: So Luke, when is the committee due to table the

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Speaker 1: final report?

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Speaker 2: Do you know before the eighteenth of November?

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Speaker 1: Okay, all right, so still a little bit of time.

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Speaker 1: So just remind us again, if people are listening this

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Speaker 1: morning and they're keen to head along, do they just

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Speaker 1: rock up or do they need to register formally?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm going to put a few drinks on, So

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Speaker 2: if they give my office a call and let us

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Speaker 2: know they're coming, they'll give me an idea of the damage.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, just come along to the Railway Club, get

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Speaker 2: there before six point thirty this evening. We'll go for

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Speaker 2: about an hour and we'll be hearing from the chair

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Speaker 2: of the Social Media in Australian Society Joint sec Committee

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Speaker 2: Inquiry looking at everything to do with social media, how

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Speaker 2: we can clean it up and make sure that these

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Speaker 2: companies know that they shouldn't be taking the Australian people

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Speaker 2: for granted. Well.

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Speaker 1: Labour's Member for Solomon Luke Gosling appreciate your time this morning.

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Speaker 1: Thank you very much for joining us and no doubt

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Speaker 1: we'll talk to you again soon.

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Speaker 2: Thanks Coatie.

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Speaker 1: Thank you,