We talked to Paul Fletcher MP, Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts. We’ll discuss Paul’s recent book Governing in the Internet Age (Monash University Publishing).
Over the past thirty years, the internet has transformed virtually every area of human activity, presenting enormous boosts to economic activity. For ordinary Australians, the internet provides an unprecedented opportunity to shop, work, and communicate online. It has become fundamental for daily life. Yet, digital platforms can also be forums for the wide circulation of abusive, defamatory material, for scammers to access sensitive data, and they disrupt many traditional forms of economic activity and business models.
All this presents a rich set of policy challenges for governments. So, should we be concerned about the many unproductive hours spent scrolling through social media? What has been the impact of the internet on our sovereignty? Moreover, how to do we ultimately protect our citizens?