Social media

Backed by big business, mining companies and billionaires, Labor and the Coalition spent millions of dollars on political advertising to win votes, according to a new report by The Australia Institute. Isaac Nellist reports.

The new so-called anti-trolling bill is yet another attempt by the federal government to shut down its critics. Paul Gregoire explains.

Twitter’s permanent suspension of Donald Trump’s account on January 8 was an anti-climactic conclusion to a presidency that ultimately finished with a whimper rather than a bang, writes Leo Crnogorcevic.

Ernst Merkenich asks: Is Microsoft seeking to raise the dead?

From taxing tech firms to pay the license fee to creating a new British Digital Corporation (BDC), the Alternative MacTaggart Lecture by British Labour’s socialist leader Jeremy Corbyn  in August  unveiled an array of potential new Labour  digital policies, writes Nick Webb.

These proposals are not yet official party policy, but they give a good sense of where Labour’s leadership is headed as it develops its offering ahead of a potential Brexit-related snap election.

The Cambridge Analytica scandal has put data harvesting in the spotlight, but Tom Walker writes that the problem goes far beyond Facebook.

The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) has raised strong objections to moves by the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) to impose severe restrictions on public sector workers' personal use of social media. "It is completely unreasonable for a worker to face disciplinary action over a private email or something as benign as 'liking' a social media post," CPSU national secretary Nadine Flood said on August 7.