The Policy and Internet Blog

We would like to thank everyone who participated in this year’s Policy & Internet conference at The University of Sydney.  Focusing on the contested nature of ‘good’ Internet policy, we were joined by a range of outstanding scholars from institutions from around the world, including Nanyang Technological University; University of Tehran; Yale University; University of Technology Sydney; University of Queensland’s Indian Institute of Technology Delhi Academy of Research; University of Canberra; University of Milan; University of California; University of Edinburgh; Beijing Language and Culture University; King’s College London; Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Vrije Universiteit Brussel; and Universidad Catolica Del Uruguay.  Over three days, scholars and students presented research and engaged in discussion on a broad range of Internet policy issues, everything from news media, politics, fashion and entertainment content regulations, misinformation, artificial intelligence, the digital platform political economy, digital content labour, online harms, security, sovereignty and data ethics. Associate Professor Julia Powles gave a highly provocative keynote presentation, challenging the dominant rhetoric in AI policy. In her talk titled The irresponsibility of responsible AI she reminded us that AI harm is a systemic issue that can not be meaningfully addressed through individual responsibility.  On day two, Cheryl Langdon-Orr hosted a lively discussion exploring cutting-edge research into ‘everyday Internet and policy issues, covering online gambling, recommendation algorithms, online pornography, the consumption of news content on social media and the monetisation of children online.  Another highlight of day two was the panel presented by the Charles Perkins Centre Truth Decay Node which provided the latest interdisciplinary research on how online arguments, images and narratives shape beliefs, and guidelines for countering the spread of dangerous belief systems. On day three we were joined by Andrew Francis from Australia’s competition authority, the ACCC, who has recently lead a multi-year inquiry into the digital platform economy, and Sophie Murray-Farell from the NSW Government Premier’s Department who are currently developing groundbreaking policy initiatives aimed a addressing […]