My slop my way

In this week’s newsletter we focus on worsening problems in the online information environment and the government’s latest efforts to deal with them. First, Harry Craigie looks at the latest report from the long-running News and Young Australians project, which found that news engagement amongst the young continues to drop. Traditional news media do not seem to be seeking out young audiences where they are. And online safety regulation, including the social media ban and recently announced ‘My feed, my way’ initiative to give users the ability to opt out of recommender algorithms, may make that problem worse. 

If young people are engaging less with real news, perhaps they are engaging more with AI-generated content, which, as Monica recounts, now makes up half of all articles published online. We can only hope that ‘My feed, my way’ includes a function to switch off the slop. But, as I examine below, the proposed digital duty of care is still narrowly focused on harmful content. While addressing this more effectively is of vital importance, broader improvements to the quality of the online information environment seem unlikely.

Read the stories:

• Young people want to see themselves in the news - Harry Craigie
• AI inbred mutants - coming soon (maybe) - Monica Attard
• On light duties - Michael Davis

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