Submission to the Select Committee on Information Integrity on Climate Change and Energy

Photo by Tracy Le Blanc from Pexels

Climate change disinformation is pervasive, coordinated and highly damaging to democratic debate and urgent climate action. Disinformation creates confusion and splinters support for climate change action creating infighting and preventing meaningful support. Due to their business models, based around “engagement” and advertising, big tech companies are directly contributing to the proliferation of disinformation on their sites. This is enabling the erosion of citizens’ trust in legitimate climate science. Key vectors include astroturfing organisations, fossil-fuel-industry think-tanks, and privacy-invading social media algorithms, amplified by bots and generative AI.

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Submission to the OAIC regarding the Children's Online Privacy Code

General Position

Digital Rights Watch welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the OAIC’s Phase 2 Consultation on the Children’s Online Privacy Code. We are aligned with the OAIC’s objective of protecting children through strengthened privacy protections, rather than preventing children from engaging in the digital world. The Internet is a vital component of modern civil life and it is vital for the health of our democracy and of us as individuals that children are able to participate in the online world.

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Submission: Review of AI and Australian Consumer Law 2024

Image: Alexa Steinbrück / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

AI-enabled goods and services are now commonplace in the Australian market and people interact with AI-enabled products in their daily lives. These products range from entirely online digital products, such as subscription streaming services for entertainment and customer service chatbots, to internet-connected physical goods such as digital assistants in smart phones and smart speakers, to internet-of-things goods that have little to no human interactivity, such as robot vacuums.

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