RE: https://timeloop.cafe/@alienghic/116755786196743629

A very good point that Australia & UK are both affected by News (Murdoch empire legacy media). In fact, Caroline De Cock, author of this piece, explicitly ties the Murdoch-y campaigning to the loss of their revenue stream from Meta, as she says, the timeline was not subtle:

“The timeline of Australia's ban for under-16s is not subtle. In March 2024, Meta declined to renew its commercial agreements with Australian news outlets under the News Media Bargaining Code, a mechanism that had generated over $200 million for publishers in the preceding three years. The "Let Them Be Kids" campaign launched by News Corp Australia across its national mastheads followed closely on the heels of that decision, collecting over 54,000 petition signatures. Nova Radio, owned by Lachlan Murdoch's Illyria Pty Ltd, ran a simultaneous campaign declaring a ban would win the vote of every parent.

“By November 2024, legislation had passed both chambers of parliament after a committee inquiry of three hours, following a 24-hour public submission window. Prime Minister Albanese thanked News Corp by name in his announcement: "I do want to single out News Corp for the campaign that they've run, Let Them Be Kids."

“The remark was striking. A head of government credited a media company, publicly and by name, when announcing legislation affecting millions of children. The legislation that the media company had campaigned for. The legislation whose primary targets were the digital competitors of that same company.

“Not a conspiracy but commercial logic… operating in plain sight.”

#SocialMediaAgeRestrictions #SocialMedia edia #AusPol #LegacyNewsMedia #NewsCorpAustralia #NewsMediaBargainingCode #politicalLobbying #conflictOfInterest #reconnectingConsequencesToCauses