Few would dispute the claim that what was once the 4th arm of governance, the media who investigated and highlighted deficiencies in the other three arms of government (the legislature, the bureaucracy and the judicial system), is no longer, having evolved into a propaganda machine. With the evolution of internet search engines, social media, podcasters, and internet influencers, the business model of mainstream media is in dire straits. Their traditional sources of revenue have largely disappeared and so find themselves dependent on government to protect them from competition and to pay them to push some or other government narrative, attack opposition to government and censor dissenting voices. Similarly, pharmaceutical industry and other big business pay mainstream media to advocate for them and attack anyone questioning their products or industry behaviour. That’s a sad situation for a once proud industry that ‘kept the bastards honest’.
A CLA government will:
One. Not provide subsidies, grants or loans to media businesses and will not offer protection from competition. Given that mainstream media (MSM) will get no favours or protection from government and government will spend significantly less on advertising and advertorials, MSM will derive no benefit from being a propaganda machine. Hopefully MSM will revert to good investigative journalism and holding all arms of government to account.
Two. Ensure that government will have no authority under law or in practice to pressure social media companies to censor content or otherwise to curtail free speech – subject to that speech not inciting violence or hatred toward any person or group of people.
Three. Progressively defunded the ABC – whether it relies on advertising or moves to a subscription model to survive is up to it.
Four. The social media ban on under 16s will be revoked – the decision as to social media use is up to parents, not government.
Five. The role of the e-Safety Commissioner will be abolished.
The question of whether those posting on social media platforms should be required to provide their identities and whether the platforms should verify user identities, is more complex. CLA would like to see social media as similar to soapbox speeches in a town square where free speech is allowed and the townsfolk know the speaker and know the members of the audience. In that case, the social media users would be required to disclose their identities. They would not hide behind pseudonyms. Digital trolls would not be able to hide behind a cloak of anonymity to be derogatory and cruel to others. Whether on social media or not, people should behave with common decency, show respect and be accountable for their comments. That requirement to disclose identities is however predicated on our being confident that we can criticise government without the fear of suffering adverse consequences for doing so, and our being confident that whistleblowers won’t be at risk of government retribution. Currently few would trust government in that regard.
A Classic Liberals Australia government will build trust with the people of Australia by providing transparent government, treating Australians as adults able to make decisions for themselves, and largely eliminating lobbying, and ensuring that decisions are made in the interests of Australian people rather than in that of big business.