Albo says he's not intimidated by Zuckerberg and Musk

Anthony Albanese has no intention of backing down over his social media ban for under-16s, even in the face of continued criticism from American owners of international tech giants.

With news of Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg dumping the services of independent fact checkers on Facebook and Instagram, and declaring a “new era” for his company, the Prime Minister has defended his government’s decision.

Mr Zuckerberg stated he wants to work with incoming US President Donald Trump to fight other governments targeting American companies by censoring social media.

Australia ranks high among those nations the tech owner was referring to.

When asked if his social media ban could lead to a fight with the tag team of Zuckerberg and Trump, Mr Albanese was unapologetic.

“What we’re doing is defending the rights of young Australians and defending Australian families,” the Prime Minister said.

“Too many people have been impacted directly by tragedies resulting from social media’s impact on young Australians. I’ve met with parents who’ve lost their little ones. That should never occur.

“And we know that the rise in mental health issues has been linked as well to social media. And we make no apologies for standing up for the interests of young Australians.

“I know that our strong action is being watched right around the world because other leaders that I’ve spoken to have indicated that they applaud the fact that Australia has taken this action.

“It’s been done. It went through the parliament with overwhelming support, and it has the support of Australian families, and we’ll continue to do the right thing.”

In a separate media interview on Wednesday (8 January), the PM was asked about the potential threat of X-Twitter owner Elon Musk using his political influence and huge social media power to campaign against Australia’s Labor government similar to how he has attacked other progressive leaders around the world.

Mr Albanese dismissed the concern and repeated his defence of the incoming laws to ban under-16s from using social media.

“I’ll stand up for Australia’s national interest and won’t be intimidated by anyone, particularly not in an area of foreign interference,” the Prime Minister said.

“So, Mr Musk has his views. What I will do is represent Australia’s national interests without fear or favour.

“And part of that is making sure that social media is held to account because social media has a social responsibility.”

On Meta’s move to abandon the use of independent fact-checkers and replace them with “community notes,” where commenting on the accuracy of posts is left to users, a leading Australian political media academic has said the announcement should not come as a surprise.

Monash University Associate Professor of News and Political Communication, Emma Briant, said Mr Zuckerberg has form in this area.

“Anyone surprised by this news learned nothing from Mark Zuckerberg’s role in the Cambridge Analytica affair,” Dr Briant said.

In the 2010s, the British consulting firm Cambridge Analytica collected personal data belonging to millions of Facebook users for political advertising without the informed consent of users.

Dr Briant said the latest news about fact checkers being dropped is exactly what is to be expected from international social media bosses.

“While they may pay lip service to the policy concerns of the moment, tech oligarchs run their companies to maximise profits and minimise costs, not to be society’s protector or mediate a neutral, democratic town hall,” she said.

“This applies to all of them, not just Elon Musk.

“There is nothing to stop tech oligarchs from weaponising their platforms to suit political objectives when the moment is right.

“Fact-checking is only one small part of the solution to the problem of contemporary propaganda.

“Policymakers often put too much faith in labelling false claims, and in so doing, they miss an opportunity to take on the larger problems of a manipulative technology infrastructure hiding behind claims of neutrality and free speech.

“With at least 13 billionaires in his new administration, including big tech oligarchs like Musk, Trump has sent a powerful message across America’s wealthy right-wing elite – now is your time, not theirs.

“Clearly, Mark Zuckerberg heard him loud and clear. Ordinary citizens should be very concerned.”

Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Riotact.