Burning Platforms

The author of 'Reboot: AI and the Race to Save Democracy' on how citizens must seize new technology to ensure it works for them.
 
Regular panelists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O'Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita's Peter Lewis also discuss
Anthropic's rare book-breaking binge
Backlash over the surveillance of open models
How to regulate perv glasses
For show notes and further discussion go to: https://burningplatforms.substack.com/

Burning Platforms is back for another live show, this time recorded  at the 2026 ALP Conference in Adelaide where we launched the "FairAI Initiative" with Digital Rights Watch chair Lizzie O’Shea, Human technology Institute co-director Ed Santow and Senator Tony Sheldon.
Join the Burning Platforms for show notes, resources, and regular updates from the Big Tech Policy space: https://burningplatforms.substack.com/
For more on the Centre of the Public Square and it's research into AI policy, check out: https://percapita.org.au/the-centre-of-the-public-square/
Last but no least, learn more about the Fair AI Initiative here: https://www.fairai.au/ 

In a world of relative facts and filter bubbles how do we build a common base of reality to anchor democracy?Burning Platforms will bring themes from the ABC series ‘A Matter of Facts’ to life in a fun and interactive live event that will challenge you to pick the truth from the lies.
Featuring:
Hamish Macdonald, award-winning journalist
Lizzie O’Shea, Co-founder and Chair of Digital Rights Watch
Jess Scully, Executive Director of RadicalXChange
Emma McDonald, Media Lawyer, policy, regulatory and communications executive
Professor Leo Robba and social design students from Western Sydney University 
Hosted by Essential’s Peter Lewis, and supported by Democracy Counts, we’ll explore what it means for democracy when so much of the content we’re consuming blurs the lines between fact and fiction, when our shared sense of reality becomes fractured.

Burning Platform is back from its brief hiatus for a special live Virtual Town Hall, convened on July 6th, looking at the growing fight to resist the US tech behemoth, in partnership with Digital Rights Watch and GetUp!
Hosted by Per Capita's Peter Lewis, with speakers:* DRW chair Lizzie O'Shea
* GetUp! campaigner Hayden Rodgers
* Australian Greens Senator David Shoebridge
 
Show notes available at: https://burningplatforms.substack.com/p/your-palantir-primer

This week on Burning Platforms, we're joined by the head of the Local and Independent News Association, Clare Stutchbery, to get her insights on the importance of media diversity in an age of information hierarchies.
 
Panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Australian Writers Guild CEO Claire Pullin and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis also explore:
 
Why has Trump blocked Anthropic’s latest model?
Is Google responsible for its AI news summaries?
Are Gina and Elon a match made in heaven?
 
For background notes on these discussions go to Burning Platforms on Substack: https://burningplatforms.substack.com/
 

The political strategist and author of ‘Angertainement', Ed Coper, joins the Burning Platform this week to discuss how social media outrage ruined everything and outlines his blueprint for harnessing the toxic information ecosystem.
 
Panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis also delve into: 
is Anthropic really calling to hit pause? 
will Microsoft’s agentic AI play land safely?
can a government automate discretion? 
 
For background notes on these discussions go to Burning Platforms on Substack: https://burningplatforms.substack.com/

This week on Burning Platforms we dive deep into Pope Leo’s XIV’s  encyclical with Dr Michael Walker from the Justice and Peace Office at the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney .
 
Our panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, ABC AI reporter Cam Wilson and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis also delve into:
AI’s Trust Deficit 
Amnesty International’s new report: Unlawful by Design
and Greenpeace’s new research on data centres ‘Energy Vampires’
 
For background notes on these discussions go to Burning Platforms on Substack: https://burningplatforms.substack.com/
 

The founder of start-up Noizend on the challenges of scaling tech in Australia and how the real innovation is not running on the back of LLMs.
 
Regular panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis also delve into: 
Why is Meta ditching End to End Encryption?
Will Google’s new IO break the internet?
And Elon Musk’s the SpaceX float take-off?
For background notes on these discussions go to Burning Platforms on Substack: https://burningplatforms.substack.com/

Internet academic Tama Leaver on the lines between regulating and equipping children to navigate the  AI revolution.
 
Panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, ABC AI reporter Cam Wilson and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis also delve into: 
 
Students Jeer AI Inspiration 
Palantir’s Surveillance Playbook
and can we build an AI Wealth Fund? 
 
For background notes on these discussions go to Burning Platforms on Substack: https://burningplatforms.substack.com/
 

The Australian Writer’s Guild CEO Claire Pullen updates us on the fight to protect Australian creators from the industrial-scale thrift of their work.
 
Regular panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis also delve into: 
 
The wild west of AI-powered toys 
Chat-GPT’s new bot-phone
and how Anthropic is tapping religious leaders for moral guidance 
For background notes on these discussions go to Burning Platforms on Substack: https://burningplatforms.substack.com/