What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Joe McKenna in Italy and Rod is in the UK for election day, of course. So, welcome to the day. Seven past six, latest cab off the rank in things Australia are doing that we suggested we might is some sort of deal with tech around local news. Australia led off the batting with a social media ban. Of course, that's been picked up and run with all over the world.
It doesn't work necessarily, but people in various jurisdictions feel good enough about it. And it may well be that enough people are affected for it to be judged some sort of success. We, of course, are yet to do anything. almost as though we don't want to. Seemed odd to me that we hail the school phone ban but can't take the social media step anyway.
Tech need to do deals with local Australian media or face a tax. Not that it's called a tax, it's a charge, and the charge will be spread about local media to help offset all the money big tech is hoovering up from taking their work and monetising it through advertising. This won't work either, of course.
In fact, it will work even less than the social media ban has worked, but you clearly can't tell Albanese there. He also runs the risk of infuriating Trump, who is pro-American tech, and companies in the firing line like Meta are, of course, American. Meantime, in Canada... who tried to do something similar.
They've gone without Meta, or at least gone without local news on Meta for a while now, because that's the standard playbook, taxes and we're off. And as one piece I read last week said, the sky actually hasn't fallen in. I assume that if enough countries try to tax, even Meta might balk, but...
We are clearly a long way from that, and it's entirely possible Meta and their ilk are so big they simply don't care. Fun fact, by the way, less than 1% of posts on Facebook in Australia contain a URL from a domestic news site, so you've got regulatory hassle, you've got no real engagement, so what do they care? I've always favoured government intervention when it actually achieves something.
The cold, hard reality in this modern world is a single government cannot contain, constrain or manipulate a global tech giant. So why turn yourself inside out trying? No, it's not fair, but it's life. Canada have achieved nothing. Australia will learn the same thing. Maybe, maybe the fact we've done nothing is smarter than many realise. News of the world in 90 seconds.
Well, since we were last here this time yesterday morning, Operation Freedom, that's paused. Why? Because it looks like a deal to end the war is about to unfold.
For the United States, anything that Iran does to have a nuclear capability in the future has to be addressed and will continue to be addressed every day, regardless of what you call the agreement.
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