Call for Papers: ICA Post Conference 2024

by Milica Stilinovic 22/01/2024

The International Communication Association (ICA) will be hosting its annual Post Conference at the University Sydney, on the topic of digital sovereignty.

by Milica Stilinovic 22/01/2024

The International Communication Association (ICA) will be hosting its annual Post Conference at the University Sydney, on the topic of digital sovereignty. Hosted by the Media & Communications discipline at The University of Sydney and the Critical Digital Infrastructures and Interfaces group at Deakin University, The ICA Post Conference 2024 will explore digital sovereignty through a range of inclusive and decolonial approaches to digital platform policy and governance, along with global perspectives on human rights, state power and territoriality under various digital sovereignty regimes. The ICA is currently inviting participants to submit a 500-word abstract on topics that fall within the scope of platforms and infrastructure in a global context. Selected participants will be invited to present their work at the post-conference and to submit their papers to a special issue of Policy & Internet Journal. Submissions should be sent to sicss.admin@sydney.edu.au by 15 February 2024. Digital sovereignty refers to a countries’ autonomy and control over its digital data, systems and infrastructures. It is a term that has been deployed widely—by liberal states to assert citizens’ rights over the data they produce and by authoritarian states to justify surveilling and controlling their populations. At the same time, flows and forms of digital life offer new constructions of territoriality, governance, and identity, on more personal and humanistic terms. Recent geopolitical crises necessitate a re-thinking of digital sovereignty and its implications for digital policy and international affairs. In contemporary armed conflicts, like in the case of Russia’s war against Ukraine, where battles unfold across all layers of the digital communication spectrum, control over digital data flows has become a key strategic objective. In this context, digital sovereignty can be used to justify policies that facilitate the expansion of state power beyond established territorial borders. At the same time, how critical socio-technical systems are governed and by whom also determines experiences of digital sovereignty. UNESCO’s 2023 Internet for Trust report calls for the inclusion of diverse perspectives in the global governance of digital platforms. While this recommendation is…

Conferences

Diversity, Inclusivity, and Good Governance: Emerging themes from the Policy & Internet Conference, 2023

by Milica Stilinovic 06/11/2023

The conference brought together leading local and international scholars and practitioners from the fields of communication, political and computational sciences and law.

by Milica Stilinovic 06/11/2023

The Policy & Internet Journal, housed at the School of Art, Communication and English, held its annual conference on the 28-29 of September in the Social Sciences Building of the University’s Camperdown campus. With an Asia-Pacific focus, the event was themed around policy inclusion within the scope of digitalisation and new technologies. The conference brought together leading local and international scholars and practitioners from the fields of communication, political and computational sciences and law. Editor Dr Joanne Gray with keynote speaker,Professor Johanna Weaver. “One of the most important items to emerge from the conference is the importance of integrating empirical research findings to inform good tech policy, or ‘good policy’, as it was referred to many times across the two days,” said Dr Jonathon Hutchinson, Editor-in-Chief of Policy & Internet. Notable speakers at the conference included Professor Johanna Weaver from the Australian National University in Canberra and Dr Justine Humphry from the University of Sydney. Presenters showcased a wide-reaching scope of papers that tackled the all-important realms of governance, policy design, content moderation, and inclusion. EIC, Dr Jonathon Hutchinsonchairing the e-Safety: Youth anddigital media policy panel. Panels included e-Safety: Youth and digital media policy, chaired by Dr Jonathon Hutchinson, with speakers from the e-Safety Commissioner — including Nikky Sloss, Manager of Children, Youth and Families — along with academics from the University of Sydney, Dr Justine Humphry and Dr Catherine Page-Jeffrey. Professor Catharine Lumby chaired Digital Hostility, policy and Social Change, which explored online hostility and its origins. The panel included academics from the University of Melbourne and RMIT, Professor Rob Cover, Dr Jay Daniel Thompson, and Dr Jennifer Beckett. The last panel of the two-day conference, chaired by Dr Joanne Gray, titled Chat GPT and Gender Bias in the Asia Pacific Region. The discussion focused on how algorithms reflect and perpetuate gender inequity, notably from the experiences of lead researcher Dr Aim Simpeng, who co-presented the initial findings with Dr Olga Boichek. ‘With…

Conferences

Policy & Internet Conference 2023: Policy innovation for inclusive internet governance

by Milica Stilinovic 12/07/2023

Together, scholars and policymakers will discuss current practices, alternative designs and the ‘unknowns’ that are required for inclusive internet governance.

by Milica Stilinovic 12/07/2023

Policy innovation for inclusive internet governance Location:Social Sciences Building (A02), Lecture Theatre 200, University of Sydney, Camperdown Campus Dates and time:28-29 September, 20238:30am – 4:30pm The Policy & Internet conference will bring together a range of international voices to demonstrate how varying approaches towards internet policy are established, embodied and engaged with by a variety of stakeholders. Together, scholars and policymakers will discuss current practices, alternative designs and the ‘unknowns’ that are required for inclusive internet governance. Conference program Register now Day One: 28 September 2023 Keynote Speaker:Professor Johanna Weaver Founding Director of the Tech Policy Design Centre at the Australian National University (ANU) A recovering diplomat, and reformed commercial litigator, Professor Weaver champions tech policy as a tool to shape technology for the long-term benefit of humanity. Prior to joining ANU, Professor Weaver completed her term as Australia’s independent expert and lead negotiator on cyber issues at the United Nations. Earlier she led the Cyber Affairs Branch at the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, working closely with Australia’s inaugural Ambassador for Cyber Affairs. Professor Weaver is a member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Global Advisory Board on digital threats during conflict. Panels: e-Safety: Youth and digital media policy Chair: Dr Jonathon Hutchinson Chair of Discipline of Media and Communication at the University of Sydney He is a Chief Investigator on the Australian Research Council LIEF project ‘The International Digital Policy Observatory,’ and is also a Chief Investigator on the eSafety Commission Research project ‘Emerging online safety issues: co-creating social media education with young people.’ For 2023 and 2024, he holds the prestigious position of President of the Australian and New Zealand Communication Association and is the current Editor in Chief of the Policy & Internet Journal. His most recent book, Digital Intermediation: Unseen infrastructure for cultural production, is available through Routledge. Panellists Presenters: Inclusivity Chair: Professor John Hartley, A.M Research professor in the…

Call for Papers, Submissions Closed

Call for Papers: Policy & Internet Conference 2023

by Milica Stilinovic 10/03/2023

Today, internet policy must confront issues relating to embedded interests, monopoly power, geopolitics, colonisation, warfare, automation, the environment, misinformation, safety, security and more.

by Milica Stilinovic 10/03/2023

*Submissions for this event have closed. Please refer to the event page for further details* Policy innovation for inclusive internet governance Location:Social Sciences Building (A02), Lecture Theatre 200, University of Sydney, Camperdown Campus Dates and time:28-29 September, 20238:30am – 4:30pm Call for papers The task of internet policy making has changed markedly over the past two decades. The ‘move fast, break things’ era—during which a central policy concern was how to manage economic disruption across industry sectors from entertainment to journalism, retail, transport and hospitality—has evolved into a digital era characterised by complex and interconnected social, political and economic global challenges. Today, internet policy must confront issues relating to embedded interests, monopoly power, geopolitics, colonisation, warfare, automation, the environment, misinformation, safety, security and more. As DeNardis (2014) has argued, conflicts within internet governance involve critical negotiations over economic and political power and how these conflicts are resolved “will determine some of the most important public interest issues of our time”. In seeking to resolve these conflicts, there is a risk that the dominant economic and geopolitical actors will structure outcomes in their interest. An inclusive approach to internet governance is needed if we are to achieve an equitable distribution of digital resources and opportunities. Inclusive internet governance requires that the voices, interests and values of the maginalised are included in policy making processes, so that dominant ideologies can be challenged and alternative imaginaries realised (Gurumurthy & Chami, 2016). Novelty and innovation in internet policy is itself challenging. Typically, policy making is driven by past experiences (Schot and Steinmueller, 2018) and constrained by institutional formalities, hierarchies and procedures (Bauer, 2014). Innovation, on the other hand, requires space for exploration and experimentation with opportunities “only partially known” (Bauer & Bohlin, 2022). How does policy innovation occur? This conference seeks to bring together a range of international voices to demonstrate how varying approaches towards internet policy are established, embodied and engaged with by…