LETTER: Creating inactive citizens

DEAR News Of The Area,

PUBLIC information, questioning and discussion is a sign of a healthy democracy and applaudable community spirit.

Yet debate and engagement may well be a victim of questionable government involvement in online communication.

Undoubtedly, an impact of Australia’s ‘Digital Duty of Care’ and Europe’s ‘chat control’- both pushed by government ostensibly to clean-up the Internet – is likely to be reduced online political participation.

People who go on social media to talk to friends only, rather than using an algorithmic system, will probably increasingly  avoid discussing politics and social issues.

Similarly, attempting to use device scanning to reduce end-to-end encryption is already driving people to mesh networks that don’t require the Internet, or the so-called dark web.

Politicians know full well that they are less likely to be challenged when citizens are apathetic and inactive.

And contrary to the popular self-image as rebellious “larrikins,” Australians are highly obedient to authority – particularly when that authority is seen as impersonal or acting for the common good.

How often do you hear: “I don’t vote, because they’re all the same”.

Or “they all do it”, as a limp response to yet another political scandal.

Such cynicism is the very opposite of a thriving democracy because it actively discourages debate.

Informal voting in Australia has already climbed to its highest rate in almost three decades.

People typically despise individual politicians, but remain strangely obedient to bureaucratic rules. Remember COVID?

And even further disengagement of the public looks set to be an inevitable result of trying to ‘dumb down’ the Internet.

Politicians seem to fear the awakened mind more than any organised opposition.

They can indirectly censor platforms and try to scan encryption, but nothing seems to alarm them more than an aware and questioning public.

More than ever, free speech is now crucial in maintaining an open and transparent society.

Regards,

Ian Roberts,

Fingal Bay.