When Australia passed its world-first law setting a minimum age for social media, the headlines were global - but the experts were divided.

In this Tech Mirror mini-series, we unpack the harms the law seeks to prevent, trace how young people’s use of social media became a flashpoint in the lead-up to the 2025 Federal Election in Australia, and explain what the legislation actually means. We ask what will happen on 10 December, when the law comes into force, and explore what needs to happen next, as we start to demand more from tech companies and from our politicians.

Across five episodes, Tech Policy Design Institute Executive Director Johanna Weaver speaks with the people directly involved in Australia’s world first online safety experiment - from psychologists and policymakers to reporters and regulators - including Julie Inman Grant, Professor Jonathan Haidt, Dr Danielle Einstein, Professor Amanda Third, Carly Kind, Cam Wilson, Minh Hoang, Lizzie O’Shea, Andrew Hammond, and Gina Cass-Gottlieb.

Listen to the trailer now and subscribe for the full series wherever you get your podcasts.

Credits
Written and narrated by Johanna Weaver, Executive Director, Tech Policy Design Institute
Produced by Olivia O’Flynn & Kate Montague, Audiocraft
Original music by Thalia Skopellos.
Created on the lands of the Ngunnawal, Ngambri people and the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation.

Links
Tech Policy Design Institute: https://techpolicy.au/podcast
Follow us on LinkedIn: Tech Policy Design Institute

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Chief Policy and Public Affairs Officer at the Center for Humane Technology, Casey Mock joins Johanna for a discussion on incentives for building safer and more humane technology.

Casey and Johanna discuss designing platforms for people and not just profit, how to realign incentives in tech using the well-established concept of legal liability, what to expect from a Trump administration in regards to tech policy, creative ways to overcome legal logjams, and how – contrary to popular belief – clear liability legislation empowers innovation.

They also explore Australia’s under 16 social media ban, different approaches globally to tackle similar issues, and Australia’s reputation internationally on tech legislation.

Key Links:

Check out the Centre for Humane Technology’s ‘Framework for Incentivizing Responsible Artificial Intelligence Development and Use’ here: https://www.humanetech.com/insights/framework-for-incentivizing-responsible-artificial-intelligence

Connect with Casey Mock on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseymock/

Keep up to date with the Tech Policy Design Centre:
https://techpolicydesign.au/news-and-events

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Angie Abdilla, Professor and the ANU School of Cybernetics, founder of Old Ways, New, and co-author of the Indigenous Protocols for Artificial Intelligence, joins Johanna for an exploration of Indigenous Knowledge and the lessons we can all draw from it.

Angie and Johanna talk about the value of viewing technology, science, and engineering through a non-western worldview, Indigenous Knowledge systems and Deep Time technologies, Country Centred Design Practices, the Closing the Gap reforms and how they relate to Indigenous data sovereignty, and some of Angie’s recent projects around AI

They explore the similarities between well managed AI and Indigenous Knowledge systems with their shared focus on trust, transparency, responsibility, and best practices.

Read Out of the Black Box: Indigenous Protocols for AI: https://www.anat.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Out-of-the-Black-Box_Indigenous-protocols-for-AI.pdf

Find your nearest display of Meditation on Country: https://isea2024.isea-international.org/meditation-on-country/

Old Ways, New: https://www.oldwaysnew.com/

Tech Policy Design Centre: https://techpolicydesign.au/

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Taiwan’s inaugural Digital Minister, Audrey Tang, and author and founder of RadicalxChange Glen Weyl, join Johanna for an in-depth conversation on utilising technology to reduce division,improve governance, and regulate and the speed of innovation

Audrey and Glen share their inspiring stories of grass-roots political action turned tech revolution and speak about Australia’s unique democratic inventiveness, their experiences unifying groups of people through new types of social media, opposing foreign state actors, prebunking misinformation, building bridges between diverse political positions, and making democracy quicker and more representative - all while keeping pace with rapid technological development.

They share their thoughts on the future of AI, open source vs closed source, accountability, steerability, and explainability, and the value of developing technology as public infrastructure.

Read Plurality: The Future of Collaborative Technology and Democracy here: https://www.plurality.net/

Connect with RadicalxChange: https://www.radicalxchange.org/

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Brendan Dowling Australia's Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology is Johanna's guest for this episode of Tech Mirror. Join them as they unravel the complexities of cyber diplomacy and Australia’s role in shaping tech policy on the global stage.

The pair explore the intricacies of international tech alliances, the challenges, and motivations of attributing cyber threats—including Australia's recently attribution of APT40 to China—and the impact of recent cyber sanctions against Russian citizens. They also discuss the implications of the CrowdStrike global tech outage, including what it might mean for the future of regulation of enterprise software.

They discuss the importance of public-private partnerships, and Australia's regional efforts in cyber capacity building.

Attribution of APT40: https://www.cyber.gov.au/about-us/view-all-content/alerts-and-advisories/apt40-advisory-prc-mss-tradecraft-in-action

Cyber Sanctions Against Russia: https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/penny-wong/media-release/cyber-sanction-imposed-russian-citizen-ransomware-activity

Australia Cyber and Critical Tech Cooperation Program: https://www.dfat.gov.au/international-relations/themes/cyber-affairs-and-critical-technologyinternational-cyber-and-critical-technology-capacity-building

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Carly Kind assumed her role as Privacy Commissioner in February this year. In this episode of Tech Mirror, Commissioner Kind and Johanna traverse:

• what motivated Carly to accept the role (hint: it’s an exciting time in privacy in Australia)
• how the reinstated role of Privacy Commissioner works within the broader Office of Australia Information Commissioner (OAIC)
• Carly’s hopes for the privacy reform package to be introduced in parliament in August
• the role of OAIC as privacy regulator of Digital Identify
• the importance of protecting biometric data, including facial recognition
• the process and outcome of OAIC’s TicToc inquiry, and Carly’s ongoing concerns about pixel tracking
• privacy and Artificial Intelligence (of course); and
• the importance of privacy rights as a check and balance on power.

Links:

• Tech Policy Atlas: https://techpolicydesign.au/tech-policy-atlas
• Research: Cultivating Coordination: https://techpolicydesign.au/report-tending-the-tech-ecosystem

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Frances Haugen came to the world’s attention in 2021 as a whistle-blower, after filing a series of complaints about Facebook (now Meta) with the U.S. Federal Government about the harms caused by their business practices. She now works to champion accountability, transparency, and driving social media for the common good.

In this new episode of Tech Mirror, TPDC Director Professor Johanna Weaver and Frances Haugen cover a lot of ground discussing topics including:

- the importance of whistle-blower protections

- recognising linguistic diversity in online safety

- the power of collective action, amongst both communities and middle powers like Canada and Australia

- mechanisms of transparency

- building independent ecosystems of accountability

- elections, democracy and disinformation

- artificial intelligence and the limits of nuclear analogies

- AND what it takes to change the world

Relevant Links:

Frances Haugen https://www.franceshaugen.com/

Beyond the Screen https://www.beyondthescreen.org/

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We’re excited to announce that the Tech Mirror Podcast will be returning to its regular scheduling very soon - we’re cooking up a great season with an all-star line-up of guests, so stay tuned!

In the interim, here’s a quick update on what TPDC has been doing for the past few months. In particular, we’re especially excited to tell you about our brand new education program aimed at upskilling existing tech policy professionals and establishing a career pathway into the field.

As part of the program’s co-design process, we’re asking you, our listeners, for your input. Whether you’re an expert in tech policy or aspiring to become one, your insights will be invaluable in shaping our curriculum.

Please take a listen, get involved and follow the link below to complete the questionnaire!

Relevant Link:

Tech Policy Education Program Design Survey: https://anu.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5B90gNHjniuhCia

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