Ed Coper

They're not trying to take an old school policy announcement and then shoehorn it uncomfortably into an Instagram reel.

They natively speak the language of the internet and that's really important.

They are our new newsmakers.

The statistics are shocking about the amount of information that people think is news comes from social media.

So 2025 was the first year globally where social media overtook news as the place that people get their news.

So traditional news outlets like radio, newspapers, TV, websites even,

Social media is now a bigger source of news than all of those.

And if you look at young people's information diets, it's even more so.

And there's been some very, very serious consequences as a result because there is no filter on social media for the quality of information.

There are no journalistic standards or ethics there.

that an institution like the ABC is beholden to.

It is the absolute wild, wild west.

So the more that people migrate off traditional fact-based news onto social media, the more they are exposed to information that can come from anyone without a qualified opinion.

And so what's the net result of this?

You see very disturbing rates of young men who adhere to very misogynistic views.

You see very disturbing rates of young women who are getting health advice from influencers who have no medical qualifications and are pushing treatments like burning in tan lines or sun gazing.

Yes, that is what it sounds like.

It's staring at the sun for health benefits.

Curing cancer with fruit juice, that kind of thing.

Exactly.