J57 Internet Publishing and Broadcasting

New media reforms to hurt Australian TV production

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Original article by Rod Myer
The New Daily – Page: Online : 9-Feb-22

The federal government’s latest media reforms will require streaming providers to invest at least five per cent of their Australian revenue in local content. This is well below the 10 per cent local content quota that the government had flagged in September 2020, while streaming services will not be penalised for failing to meet the revised quota unless Communications Minister Paul Fletcher decides to intervene. Screen Producers Australia CEO Matt Deaner is concerned that streaming services will produce local content in name only, using all-American casts to make US-style programs in Australia.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS, SCREEN PRODUCERS AUSTRALIA

Andrew Forrest sues Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook over scam ads

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Original article by Danielle Le Messurier
The West Australian – Page: Online : 3-Feb-22

Fortescue Metals Group founder Andrew Forrest has filed criminal charges against social media giant Facebook in the Magistrates Court of Western Australia. Forrest alleges that Facebook has been "criminally reckless" in failing to take sufficient action to block fake advertisements that use his name and image to promote cryptocurrency scams on its platforms. Forrest has also accused Facebook of breaching Australia’s money-laundering laws. Forrest previously filed a US civil case against Facebook in September 2021.

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FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, FACEBOOK, META PLATFORMS INCORPORATED, MAGISTRATES COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Forrest’s legal action over Facebook crypto scams

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Original article by John Rolfe
The Daily Telegraph – Page: Online : 22-Dec-21

Facebook is under scrutiny by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission for allowing scammers to place fake advertisements on its digital platforms. The ads feature ‘endorsements’ by high-profile individuals such as Andrew Forrest and Dick Smith to promote scams that have cost some Australians their life savings. Forrest has launched his own legal action against Facebook for allowing his name and image to be used in ads that promote online scams. He first raised concern about the practice in April 2019, and personally wrote to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg about the issue in November of that year.

CORPORATES
FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

News site losing millions but increasing in value

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Original article by John Rolfe
The Daily Telegraph – Page: Online : 2-Nov-21

The financial accounts of Industry Super Holdings shows that The New Daily lost $2.7m in 2020-21. The superannuation industry-backed news website has not booked a profit since it was founded nearly a decade ago, but its book value has been upgraded from zero to $4.4m following a review by an independent valuation expert. Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has questioned why super fund members are continuing to fund The New Daily, and reiterated his view that it is a "propaganda outfit" for union-linked super funds.

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THE NEW DAILY, INDUSTRY SUPER HOLDINGS PTY LTD, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Google paid just 7.6 per cent tax on billion-dollar profit in 2020

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Original article by John Rolfe
The Daily Telegraph – Page: Online : 26-Oct-21

Google Australia booked a profit of $186m in 2020, while its gross revenue was $5.2bn. However, Google pays tax on the revenue it generates in Australia via a Singapore-based subsidiary, Google Asia Pacific. This company made a profit of $US1.62bn ($2.17bn) in 2020, but its total tax bill in Singapore was only $US123m ($165m). The effective tax rate was just 7.6 per cent, while Australia and Singapore have corporate tax rates of 30 per cent and 17 per cent respectively. Both countries are signatories to a global deal to introduce a 15 per cent minimum tax rate for multinationals.

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GOOGLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, GOOGLE ASIA PACIFIC PTE LTD

‘Stop trusting Facebook’, whistleblower Frances Haugen tells Australian MPs

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Original article by Lisa Visentin
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 22-Oct-21

Federal Liberal-National MP Julian Simmonds says regulatory intervention is needed to ensure that Facebook is more transparent about how it operates. His comments follow an online briefing to federal MPs by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, who said they should not trust the social media company’s promises that it is trying to make its platform safer. Simmonds co-ordinated the briefing with digital advocacy group Reset Australia. Haugen attracted much attention when she recently appeared before a US congressional hearing.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED

Social media’s self-policing plan laughable

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Original article by Paul Smith, Miranda Ward
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 & 23 : 12-Oct-21

Public interest groups have dismissed DIGI’s plans to establish an independent panel to oversee the voluntary code of conduct governing misinformation and disinformation that appears on the platforms of technology companies such as Facebook and Google. Dhakshayini Sooriyakumaran of Reset Australia says DIGI’s code is little more than a public relations stunt, and she contends that self-regulation of the sector does not work.

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DIGI, FACEBOOK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GOOGLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, RESET AUSTRALIA

Corporates too reliant on Facebook

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Original article by David Swan
The Australian – Page: 13 & 17 : 6-Oct-21

Marcus Thompson says Facebook’s global outage highlights the fact that Australian businesses rely too much on the social media giant and many lack an alternative platform to engage with customers. Thompson, the former head of information warfare at the Australian Defence Force, says local companies need to become more self-sufficient and less dependent on offshore-based digital platforms. Localsearch co-founder Daniel Stoten says small businesses must have a presence on all social media sites that are used by their customers, rather than being reliant on one platform. The Facebook outage lasted for nearly six hours, and has been attributed to a faulty configuration change; it also affected WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger, and had to be announced on rival platform Twitter.

CORPORATES
FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, WHATSAPP INCORPORATED, INSTAGRAM LLC, FACEBOOK MESSENGER, TWITTER INCORPORATED, LOCALSEARCH

More public figures expected to turn off Facebook comments after Australian defamation ruling

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Original article by Josh Taylor
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 28-Sep-21

The High Court recently ruled that the owners of Facebook pages are liable for defamatory comments made on them. The ruling prompted Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein to announce on 24 September that some posts on his Facebook page would have comments turned off, a feature that Facebook introduced in March. Defamation expert Professor David Rolph says he expects other politicians and public figures will adopt similar strategies to that of Gutwein.

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HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED

Why journalists are giving up on Twitter

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Original article by Karl Quinn
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 17-Sep-21

A growing number of Australian journalists are opting to voluntarily stop using social media site Twitter. They include Lisa Millar, the co-host of the ABC’s ‘News Breakfast’ program. Millar argues that Twitter is still the best platform for breaking news, but she got fed up with the frequent abusive comments from the platform’s users, including allegations of political bias and gender-related criticism. Millar’s ABC colleague and ‘7.30’ presenter Leigh Sales has also highlighted the "non-stop" bullying and harassment on Twitter. Dr Alex Wake of RMIT University contends that abuse of journalists on Twitter is a workplace health and safety issue, and argues that media companies have a duty of care to protect their staff.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, TWITTER INCORPORATED, RMIT UNIVERSITY