Given that the "Independent Regulator" is likely to be someone like Kate Hannah of the Disinformation Project or her ilk, if implemented, this will be a farce. The very slipperiness of the terms harmful and safe in the context of the internet means it would be open season for censorship! One more thing for me to lose sleep over.
I'm trying very hard to be mindful and live in the present, which means being very choosey about who I follow and what I read, but I've come to the conclusion that if I'm to be true to myself and my principles I have to engage with a lot of issues I'd rather put my head in the sand about because at 75 I really thought I might be able to look forward to a serene and comfortable old age. The last six years have well and truly blown that hope out of the water.
So once again David, thanks for an edifying exposition on what we have to look forward to, as I don't imagine a coming government will think any differently from the last after three years of insidious propaganda by TDP et al.
Thanks for your observations. Gloomy though the outlook may be I trust it will never be so dark as to have anyone from the Disinfo Project as a regulatory or any form of content.
As far as the coming Government is concerned, I share your worries. The Safer Online Services project has been going on for years and developed from an overall Media Review which started in 2019 following the Christchurch Massacre and the way that social media fed into extremism - all part of Jacinda Ardern's Christchurch Call.
The DIA has had a number of shots at getting a model across the line and this is the latest one. There is a bit of support for it from certain sectors of the Online community - InternetNZ is behind it for example.
The other things is that this project may well have developed a life of its own and rather than being driven by the political is now in the hands of the bureaucrats. One of the things I have noticed over my time writing on current affairs is the way those who write advisories and Cabinet Papers "spin" the recommendations to the outcome that is thought by the bureaucrats to be the most desirable. It makes one wonder about where the real power lies.
One has only to have watched "Yes, Minister" to be very aware of the real seat of power. After all, politicians [mostly] come and go but the ministry mandarins stay and stay. Many years ago my sister was employed writing ministerial minutes and some of her stories were enough to make one's hair curl.
Given that the "Independent Regulator" is likely to be someone like Kate Hannah of the Disinformation Project or her ilk, if implemented, this will be a farce. The very slipperiness of the terms harmful and safe in the context of the internet means it would be open season for censorship! One more thing for me to lose sleep over.
I'm trying very hard to be mindful and live in the present, which means being very choosey about who I follow and what I read, but I've come to the conclusion that if I'm to be true to myself and my principles I have to engage with a lot of issues I'd rather put my head in the sand about because at 75 I really thought I might be able to look forward to a serene and comfortable old age. The last six years have well and truly blown that hope out of the water.
So once again David, thanks for an edifying exposition on what we have to look forward to, as I don't imagine a coming government will think any differently from the last after three years of insidious propaganda by TDP et al.
Thanks for your observations. Gloomy though the outlook may be I trust it will never be so dark as to have anyone from the Disinfo Project as a regulatory or any form of content.
As far as the coming Government is concerned, I share your worries. The Safer Online Services project has been going on for years and developed from an overall Media Review which started in 2019 following the Christchurch Massacre and the way that social media fed into extremism - all part of Jacinda Ardern's Christchurch Call.
The DIA has had a number of shots at getting a model across the line and this is the latest one. There is a bit of support for it from certain sectors of the Online community - InternetNZ is behind it for example.
The other things is that this project may well have developed a life of its own and rather than being driven by the political is now in the hands of the bureaucrats. One of the things I have noticed over my time writing on current affairs is the way those who write advisories and Cabinet Papers "spin" the recommendations to the outcome that is thought by the bureaucrats to be the most desirable. It makes one wonder about where the real power lies.
One has only to have watched "Yes, Minister" to be very aware of the real seat of power. After all, politicians [mostly] come and go but the ministry mandarins stay and stay. Many years ago my sister was employed writing ministerial minutes and some of her stories were enough to make one's hair curl.