Daniel Angus
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antmandan.bsky.social
Daniel Angus
@antmandan.bsky.social

Professor of Digital Communication and Director of the QUT Digital Media Research Centre. Cyclist, beer brewer, nerd, community advocate.

Computer science 38%
Communication & Media Studies 20%

Danke fürs Teilen. Es ist wichtig, dass die Welt versteht, dass niemals Fachexpert*innen konsultiert wurden.

You've got to be joking. So these grifters are getting rich promoting misery and suffering, breaking up families through problematic gambling, and then have the gall to pretend they care about kids.
Scoop: the pro-teen social media ban lobby group 36 Months was funded & co-staffed by its co-founder's ad production firm that was simultaneously making gambling ads

The federal government has ignored calls for a gambling ad ban while pursuing the social media ban.

www.crikey.com.au/20...
Scoop: the pro-teen social media ban lobby group 36 Months was funded & co-staffed by its co-founder's ad production firm that was simultaneously making gambling ads

The federal government has ignored calls for a gambling ad ban while pursuing the social media ban.

www.crikey.com.au/20...

My colleagues have issued an open letter urging EU institutions to protect this crucial transparency infrastructure, if you're an academic or civil society org, please consider adding your signature to the list:
dsa40collaboratory.eu/open-letter-...
Open Letter: Omnibus – DSA 40 Collaboratory
dsa40collaboratory.eu

But this evidence ecosystem is under threat due to proposed changes in the GDPR omnibus reform that could restrict independent research at exactly the moment when transparency matters most.

This is why observability matters. EU's GDPR and DSA give researchers some of the tools needed to see what happens inside platforms: how content flows, how moderation works, etc. But also how material is consumed and used in the hands of users thanks to data donation.

On this and many other issues, Australia has put the policy cart before the evidence/data horse. And with no outcomes or success framework, we won't and can't know whether this ban improves anything, or just pushes young people onto less visible platforms.

I’ve published a new piece in IPS Journal (in English and German) on Australia's social media age-ban, a policy that disconnects millions of young people from key online spaces while giving us no real way to measure what it achieves.
www.ips-journal.eu/work-and-dig...
A poor answer to a complex problem
Australia’s social media ban won’t protect teens, but it shows who holds power. Europe should make sure to choose a different path
www.ips-journal.eu

Thanks for the tag Claes, and for the brilliant piece @jesstpiotrowski.bsky.social. Here's hoping the rest of the world doesn't follow our inane example.

One interview featured a teen who said the ban won't work as they would just find an alternative platform. The PM menacingly said something like "and we'll find you there as well". What a total creep, but also 100% on brand for a political party that wants to lock up kids as young as 10.

It was also incredibly gross, but totally on-brand, to see the government wheel out kids all week like props, having not consulted with any of them in the lead up. It's deeply cynical as well given one of the best surveys we have suggested less than 10% wanted the ban. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12...
What 17,000-plus young people think about the social media ban
BTN surveyed more than 17,000 Australians under 16 about the federal government's upcoming social media ban. This is what they said.
www.abc.net.au

Reposted by Daniel Angus

Incredible. Pro-teen social media ban group 36 Months was selling sponsorship to a United Nations event run by the Australian government with the promise of “influence” and “access” to heads of states, according to a leaked document.

www.crikey.com.au/2025/12/11/3...
'This is influence': Leaked 36 Months sponsorship document reveals promises to sell access to United Nations event
The Wippa-led pro-teen social media ban group was selling a 'United Nations General Assembly Sponsorship' for $150,000 in the lead-up to the Australian government-hosted event.
www.crikey.com.au

Yep, don't worry about how we're still greenlighting fossil fuel timebombs, failing to curb inequality, cutting frontline services, cutting science funding, paving over shirinking greenspace and destroying our native forests, failing to ban gambling and other predatory advertising, etc. etc.

Watching monuments lit up with a tacky News Corp slogan made me feel sick. Our national icons turned into billboards for a populist fantasy, while those of us doing the actual research are maligned. It's state-sponsored PR masquerading as policy, a grotesque spectacle by a government drunk on power.

Reflections on the day 1 of the age ban: experts sidelined again, nuance ignored, and the debate drowned by low-effort vox pops. Policy built on vibes not evidence gets sold as "protecting kids" with all the spectacle of a state propaganda march, loud, choreographed, & divorced from substance.

Reposted by Daniel Angus

We have your morning commute listening for Wednesday lined up... 👂🔊

DMRC Director Daniel Angus (@antmandan.bsky.social) spoke with the Read Them Sideways podcast team about the social media ban, the implications, and what to expect in the future.

open.spotify.com/episode/6IES...
The social media ban: how we got here and what to expect (#37)
open.spotify.com

Thanks for the shout Claes, here is something I wrote in the last few days on what we're seeing here in Australia, and some lesser discussed but incredibly important aspects of this incredibly messy moment.

360info.org/australias-s...
Australia’s social media age ban is days away. Here is what it really means - 360
Public debate on the ban has focused on parenting choices. But the real issue is corporate compliance, technical design, and safe spaces for young people   Young people in Australia are on the verge o...
360info.org
The messy implementation of Australia’s under 16 social media ban.

Demanding better, responsible, compliant social media platforms rather than a messy age ban is much needed.

Which many Australian colleagues like @antmandan.bsky.social have said, repeatedly.

www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
Social media ban: when does it start in Australia, how will it work and what apps are getting banned for under-16s?
Will the ban be delayed or postponed, and how will age verification work? Here’s everything you need to know
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Daniel Angus

U16 social media ban - ban on log-ons, not access (does not turn parents into criminals), but "does not solve the main problems" of bullying etc
@antmandan.bsky.social on implications #auspol
michaelwest.com.au/social-media...
Social media age ban is upon us. What does it really mean? - Michael West
The much heralded and little understood social media ban for kids comes into effect on Wednesday, but will it solve anything?
michaelwest.com.au

I am still enthralled by the fact that mainstream radio stations are oblivious to the sneaky C-bomb in a popular and very funky tune by a well known mid-noughties dance-punk band.

Reposted by Daniel Angus

Oh hi! Just me, my buddies, & our CIESJ Faculty awards for sustainability (digital climate communication & sustainability policy) with @carlylubicz.bsky.social & @riedlinm.bsky.social.

Cheers to the @qutdmrc.bsky.social team who worked on this report; particular thanks to @antmandan.bsky.social 🥹🙏

Reposted by Daniel Angus

Our new article shows how the trend of data dismantling and artificially creating data scarcity about key public issues is affecting scrutiny and journalism investigations. Great working with Mathias Felipe de Lima Santos, @antmandan.bsky.social @tjthomson.bsky.social 360info.org/governments-...
Governments are hiding data, threatening democracy. Here’s how it affects you - 360
From being custodians of public knowledge, governments are turning to architects of manufactured ignorance. Amid disappearing evidence, citizens are struggling to hold power to account    Around the w...
360info.org

"If we find that because they've been locked out of Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, what have you, they end up on Lemon8, then we will look at whether the harm has transferred there and whether we need to add them to the list," she said.

What does she mean 'the harm has transferred there"? What harm?

From ABC: "Communications Minister Anika Wells has hinted she'll have more to say about TikTok-linked Lemon8 after the app shot up in the charts."

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12...
Live: Greens slam government's artificial intelligence plan as 'cooked'
Greens senator David Shoebridge has criticised the government's artificial intelligence plan, saying it is long on rhetoric and short on protections. Follow live.
www.abc.net.au

Reposted by Daniel Angus

Another panel on the 2025 #ausvotes federal election at #AANZCA25 – and a good one, featuring my @qutdmrc.bsky.social colleagues @vilkins.bsky.social and @antmandan.bsky.social.

Liveblog here:
AANZCA 2025 | Snurblog — Axel Bruns
Australia Aotearoa New Zealand Communication Association conference, Sunshine Coast, 26-28 Nov. 2025
snurb.info
PhD researcher Kate FitzGerald has a new article out in The Conversation today looking at generative AI chatbots and conspiracy theories.
AI chatbots are encouraging conspiracy theories – new research
If you interact with chatbots about conspiracy theories, research shows you can can easily fall down the rabbit hole.
theconversation.com
I'm very pleased this piece co-authored with @antmandan.bsky.social is out in the @aunz.theconversation.com this morning.

theconversation.com/australia-is...

Reposted by Daniel Angus

Fabulous online seminar organized by @algosoc.org

Algorithmic Effects on #Elections: Using Social Media Data Donations to Study Elections

🗓️ Fri 12 Dec, 14:00–15:30 CET

@ernesto-deleon.com @favstats.eu @antmandan.bsky.social @simonchauchard.bsky.social

Registration ⬇️

algosoc.org/events/algos...
AlgoSoc Seminar Series: Algorithmic Effects on Elections: Using Social Media Data Donations to Study Elections | AlgoSoc
algosoc.org

Reposted by Daniel Angus

What would have been actually awesome would have been if a bunch of Queensland Year 12 students had spent a year learning about the Cohen Brothers film “Hail Caesar!”.