‘Let’s create our own Facebook’

There are calls for the government to develop a public-owned, public-purpose social network to be housed through the ABC.

(COMBO)(L-R) This combination of file photos created on October 1, 2020 shows Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai during a session at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, on January 22, 2020, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at Georgetown University in Washington, DC on October 17, 2019, and CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on September 5, 2018. - A Senate panel voted October 1, 2020 to subpoena the top executives of Facebook, Google and Twitter to answer questions on disinformation, online scams and a range of social ills.The Commerce Committee agreed unanimously to call Jack Dorsey of Twitter, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Sundar Pichai of Google parent Alphabet. The move comes with Big Tech platforms facing heightened scrutiny on monopoly concerns, and also for failing to stem hateful and nefarious content. (Photos by AFP)

Hello and welcome to The Download, The Australian’s technology blog for the latest tech news.

1.20pm: TPG launches budget brand ‘Felix’

TPG Telecom has today launched a new digital-only telco brand, dubbed Felix, which will go up against budget brands including Telstra’s Belong.

TPG chief executive Iñaki Berroeta said Felix would be Australia’s first telco to be powered by 100 per cent renewable ernergy.

“Seamless, sustainable and simple is what customers are telling us they want from their telco plan,” he said in a statement.

“felix is the first step in the merged company’s sustainability focus, and we’re taking this step to reduce the environmental impact from mobile phone use.

TPG CEO Iñaki Berroeta at their head quarters in North Sydney on the 13th of February 2020 Photographer: Adam Yip

“Environmental sustainability is important to us, and it’s important to our customers, shareholders and the community.”

There are no plan details available yet but the executive said sign up will be a simple process via the felix app and once customers receive their SIM, it will be an entirely digital experience.

“COVID has accelerated the consumer trend away from retail and call centres, and we expect that shift to continue,” he said.

“We’ll announce the felix plan details closer to launch in coming weeks but we’re committed to making it a simple experience for customers.”

9.40am: ‘Plan for life with Google and Facebook’

The Australian government is being urged to prepare for life without Google and Facebook and plot a National Risk Mitigation Strategy in case the tech giants follow through on their threats and flee the country, as impending social media legislation looms large.

With new media bargaining laws set to to be introduced to parliament before the end of the year, Australia needs to take Google and Facebook‘s threats to leave the country seriously, according to the Centre for Responsible Technology director Peter Lewis, who on Monday launched a new report into the tech giants.

Mr Lewis said that there are significant risks to public discourse if Facebook bans local news with the platform likely to be swamped with disinformation, while local businesses will suffer if Google removes access to its advertising platform and to YouTube.

Australia’s health and education services in particular have become overly reliant on Google’s suite of products, Mr Lewis said.

He is calling on the government to develop a public-owned, public-purpose social network which does not track and monetise user data, to be housed through the ABC.

(FILES) This file illustration taken on October 1, 2019 shows the logos of mobile apps Facebook and Google displayed on a tablet in Lille, France. - Google and Facebook have told most employees to keep working from home for the rest of 2020 as part of a response by the tech giants to the deadly coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by DENIS CHARLET / AFP)

The government should also fast-track elements of the ACCC digital platforms inquiry around consumer protection and privacy to address the existing advertising market dominance of the major platforms, and audit existing government reliance on major platforms and place a cap on the number of government contracts any single technology provider should hold, according to the executive.

Facebook has pledged to block Australian users from sharing news stories if the bargaining code laws pass in Australia, while Google has said it can‘t rule out leaving the Australian market altogether.

“A more blanket withdrawal, as is being threatened in Europe, would see all its network services including Instagram and Whatsapp removed in Australia, depriving millions of Australians of their social connections. In a time of physical constraint this would indeed be a harmful disruption.

“While we do not consider it likely that the two companies will withdraw entirely over the code, the above audit begs the question whether we have become too reliant on two global corporations that will always operate in their commercial self-interest rather than in our national interest.

“Reliance on Google and Facebook is so deep and engrained, that there is no quick fix to building national digital autonomy, but there are a few things we should consider now, that would make us more resilient.”

8.15am: Tech giants to justify blocking political posts

The chief executives of Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet will appear before a Senate committee on October 28 to face questions about their policies for moderating content on their internet platforms.

Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Jack Dorsey of Twitter, and Sundar Pichai of Alphabet, the owner of Google and YouTube, will appear before the Senate Commerce Committee via videoconference, the Republican-led committee said on Friday.

The hearing will centre on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields social-media platforms from liability for user content — but which Republicans say has been used by tech companies to censor conservative opinions.

(COMBO)(L-R) This combination of file photos created on October 1, 2020 shows Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai during a session at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, on January 22, 2020, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at Georgetown University in Washington, DC on October 17, 2019, and CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on September 5, 2018. (Photos by AFP)

The companies say they make those decisions without regard to political viewpoints. Democrats, for their part, have encouraged the companies to be more proactive in policing false information on social media.

The Senate Commerce Committee’s announcement said the October 28 hearing “will provide an opportunity to discuss the unintended consequences of Section 230’s liability shield and how best to preserve the internet as a forum for open discourse”.

The panel’s chairman, Sen. Roger Wicker (R., Miss.), has pushed for the hearing to occur on a short time line. He moved to authorise the issuance of subpoenas against the three CEOs earlier this month, less than a week after first asking them to appear. At a hearing to vote on the subpoenas, he noted the fast-approaching Nov. 3 election.

Democrats didn’t oppose issuing the subpoenas, although some said they didn’t believe it was necessary to question the CEOs before the election.

The Senate Commerce Committee hearing is separate from an October 23 hearing planned by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which on Thursday threatened to subpoena Mr. Dorsey to appear on that date after Twitter blocked a pair of New York Post articles containing allegations against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

The Wall Street Journal