Burning Platforms

The People’s Choice

Welcome to Burning Platforms: De-Coding the Power and Politics of Big Tech. 
 
In the last Burning Platforms before the Australian Federal Election, Peter Lewis, Lizzie O'Shea, and Dan Stinton run the rule over the policies being offered up by the major parties.
 
Is it just Coke vs. Pepsi? Or are there bigger ideas at play?
 
Burning Platforms is brought to you by the Centre of the Public Square - an initiative of Per Capita.

Deus Ex Machina

Humans embrace technology with a child-like optimism, but what are the threats Artificial Intelligence poses our society if its impacts are not thought through?
 
Welcome to Burning Platforms: De-Coding the Power and Politics of Big Tech. 
 
This week, the Burning Platforms panel dives deep into the amorality of AI with a special discussion with Professor Toby Walsh, author of the new book ‘Machines Behaving Badly’.
 
Burning Platforms is brought to you by the Centre of the Public Square - an initiative of Per Capita.
 

Are we addicted to tech?

Welcome to Burning Platforms: De-Coding the Power and Politics of Big Tech. 
 
On this week’s episode, Peter Lewis, Lizzie O'Shea, and Dan Stinton dive deep into digital addiction: are we being played? And what can we do to get ourselves off the bad stuff?
 
Burning Platforms is brought to you by the Centre of the Public Square - an initiative of Per Capita.

Pandemic Tech

After turning to new technology in a public health crisis we now face critical questions in what a new surveillance normal looks like.
 
Welcome to Burning Platforms: De-Coding the Power and Politics of Big Tech. 
 
 
On this week's episode Peter Lewis, Lizzie O'Shea, Dan Stinton, and guest Dr Mark Andrejevic (Monash Data Futures Institute) look at the technology of the Pandemic and what new models are likely to emerge.
 
Burning Platforms is brought to you by the Centre of the Public Square - an initiative of Per Capita.

The Rise of the Splinternet

Welcome to Burning Platforms: De-Coding the Power and Politics of Big Tech. 
 
 
This week, the Burning Platforms panel (Peter Lewis, Lizzie O'Shea, and Dan Stinton) are joined by former president of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) Paul Twomey to outline how competing models of state control over online communications are challenging the very essence of the internet.
 
Burning Platforms is brought to you by the Centre of the Public Square - an initiative of Per Capita.

True Lies: Disinformation in an election year

As the Federal Election approaches amid heightened geo-political tensions, Burning Platforms looks at a ground-breaking attempt to understand how political actors game the social media algorithms to deliver targeted disinformation.
 
Burning Platforms is brought to you by the Centre of the Public Square - an initiative of Per Capita.

Facebook news takedown anniversary

Welcome to Burning Platforms: De-Coding the Power and Politics of Big Tech.
 
On this week's episode, Peter Lewis, Lizzie O'Shea, and Dan Stinton mark 12 months from the Facebook news takedown and review the progress of the News Media Bargaining Code with guest Terry Flew (Professor of Digital Communication & Culture, University of Sydney).
 
Burning Platforms is brought to you by the Centre of the Public Square - an initiative of Per Capita.
 

Inquiry into Social Media and Online Safety

While Australians spent the summer searching for RATs, a hastily convened federal government inquiry was holding public hearings about online safety, as the Morrison Government amps up its war with the Big Tech companies.
 
Welcome to Burning Platforms: De-Coding the Power and Politics of Big Tech. 
 
Burning Platforms is back for 2022, as Peter Lewis dissects the Senate Economics References Committee Inquiry into international digital platforms operated by Big Tech companies with deputy chair Tim Watts MP.
 
Burning Platforms is brought to you by the Centre of the Public Square - an initiative of Per Capita.

The Public Square Project book launch

Western democracy has always been anchored by the idea of a public space where people gather to share ideas, mediate difference and make sense of the world. When Facebook blocked Australian users from viewing or sharing news in 2021, it sounded the alarm worldwide on our growing reliance on global tech companies to fulfil this critical role in a digital world.
 
The conflict sparked a new sense of urgency around the growing movement to imagine alternative digital spaces that operate in the public interest rather than simply for a commercial bottom line.
 
The Public Square Project draws together leading tech scholars, industry experts, writers and activists to chart a path towards a public square worthy of the name.
 
Welcome to Burning Platforms: De-Coding the Power and Politics of Big Tech. 
 
Burning Platforms is brought to you by the Centre of the Public Square - an initiative of Per Capita.

Whatever happened to the free web?

The internet promised new ways to challenge power and privilege, so how has it become a tool to promote division and entrench despots?
 
Welcome to Burning Platforms: De-Coding the Power and Politics of Big Tech. 
 
Join Peter Lewis, Lizzie O' Shea, and Dan Stinton, with guest, Elaine Pearson (Asia Director at Human Rights Watch), for this week's analysis of the politics of technology from around the world.
 
Burning Platforms is brought to you by the Centre of the Public Square - an initiative of Per Capita.