Tama Leaver
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tamaleaver.bsky.social
Tama Leaver
@tamaleaver.bsky.social
🎓 Professor of Internet Studies, Curtin Uni (Boorloo/Perth West Australia);
🌏 Past Prez @AoIR.bsky.social;
🔎 @digitalchildau.bsky.social (AI & Datafication);
🐘 @tama@aoir.social; he/him.
[Views mine; RT/❤️/etc ≠ endorsement]
Pinned
I enjoyed being interviewed for this podcast, which gave me space to outline what I think about the social media ban/delay for under16s in Australia + what young people & parents, carers & trusted adults in their lives need to think about *before* December 10th!

Listen here: www.curtin.edu.au/ne...
Reposted by Tama Leaver
I need everyone, esp anyone working in education or tech (but really everyone) to WATCH THIS CLIP of @drtanksley.bsky.social discussing the technologies infiltrating our schools & psyches and how she is addressing it with our young people. youtu.be/5mtcSL4S3HQ
Howard University AI Panel
YouTube video by Tiera Tanksley
youtu.be
November 22, 2025 at 1:43 PM
I had a few last thoughts for the day about Twitch being added to the #SocialMediaBan for under16s in Australia on Radio National's PM program this afternoon:
Streaming platform Twitch latest to be banned for kids - ABC listen
Children under 16 will be banned from the streaming platform Twitch from December 10, after it was added to the Federal Government's list of blocked platforms.
www.abc.net.au
November 21, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Reposted by Tama Leaver
No way. Anywhere we can gather as a family has been age restricted now.
This is bad. We don't all live in the city with soccer mums that can afford after school activities. This will impact children in poverty and state care only. Like it's designed to do.
So at almost the last moment, Twitch has been added to the list of age-restricted social media platforms for Australia's #SocialMediaBan for under16s, which is officially active in less than three weeks.

I believe the expression is: 'building the plane while it's flying'.
We’ve informed Twitch that we consider it an age-restricted social media platform in accordance with Australia’s social media minimum age legislation.   Following its own self-assessment, we assessed… | eSafety Commissioner
We’ve informed Twitch that we consider it an age-restricted social media platform in accordance with Australia’s social media minimum age legislation.   Following its own self-assessment, we assessed Twitch as meeting the criteria for an age-restricted social media platform. This is because it has a sole or significant purpose of online social interaction with features designed to encourage user interaction, including through livestreaming content.   Twitch is a platform most commonly used for livestreaming or posting content that enables users, including Australian children, to interact with others in relation to the content posted.   From 10 December age-restricted social media platforms will be required to take reasonable steps to prevent under 16s from having accounts on their platform.   We’ve published our views on whether some platforms will be age-restricted social media platforms to provide additional certainty for Australian families and industry.    But we expect all online platforms that operate in Australia to assess their obligations under Australian law. We’ve provided an assessment tool to help them understand if they’re required to comply with the social media minimum age and remain in ongoing discussions with industry about compliance obligations.   Learn more about the upcoming social media age restrictions on our website: https://lnkd.in/gtn4aE_c 
www.linkedin.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:52 AM
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...
November 21, 2025 at 1:51 AM
So at almost the last moment, Twitch has been added to the list of age-restricted social media platforms for Australia's #SocialMediaBan for under16s, which is officially active in less than three weeks.

I believe the expression is: 'building the plane while it's flying'.
We’ve informed Twitch that we consider it an age-restricted social media platform in accordance with Australia’s social media minimum age legislation.   Following its own self-assessment, we assessed… | eSafety Commissioner
We’ve informed Twitch that we consider it an age-restricted social media platform in accordance with Australia’s social media minimum age legislation.   Following its own self-assessment, we assessed Twitch as meeting the criteria for an age-restricted social media platform. This is because it has a sole or significant purpose of online social interaction with features designed to encourage user interaction, including through livestreaming content.   Twitch is a platform most commonly used for livestreaming or posting content that enables users, including Australian children, to interact with others in relation to the content posted.   From 10 December age-restricted social media platforms will be required to take reasonable steps to prevent under 16s from having accounts on their platform.   We’ve published our views on whether some platforms will be age-restricted social media platforms to provide additional certainty for Australian families and industry.    But we expect all online platforms that operate in Australia to assess their obligations under Australian law. We’ve provided an assessment tool to help them understand if they’re required to comply with the social media minimum age and remain in ongoing discussions with industry about compliance obligations.   Learn more about the upcoming social media age restrictions on our website: https://lnkd.in/gtn4aE_c 
www.linkedin.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:33 PM
The #SocialMediaBan (or #SocialMediaDelay if you prefer) just got very real for hundreds of thousands of Australian teens under 16 who got messages in the last 24hours saying their Instagram (or, for a few, Facebook/Threads) accounts are flagged to be deactivated in the coming weeks.
November 20, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Reposted by Tama Leaver
It’s the universities encouraging students to use AI that really gets me. All this “we need to accept it’s here and teach them to use it” does not help students learn to think. Writing is for thinking and communicating, not just producing words.
I spent a lot of time this semester explaining why it produces bad work but at the end of the day, they're being asked to do a thing they find difficult, and this makes it easy for them, without any meaningful consequence. And the university encourages them to use it.
November 18, 2025 at 3:46 AM
Reposted by Tama Leaver
“CSIRO has announced it will slash up to 350 jobs as the national science agency grapples with long-term financial challenges … with current funding failing to keep pace with the rising costs of running a modern science agency.”

Not “challenges”. They’re choices. 😡
CSIRO to cut up to 350 research jobs in major overhaul
After 440 positions were slashed last year, the CSIRO has announced more staff cuts across the country in a bid to remain financially viable.
www.abc.net.au
November 18, 2025 at 6:15 AM
Worth reading:

"The Age of Anti-Social Media Is Here" by Damon Beres

www.theatlantic.com/...

#GenerativeAI
November 18, 2025 at 5:22 AM
So Messenger is included in the under16s social media ban, despite reassurances it wouldn't be.

FFS. This is why the legislation is so badly written: the vast tidal wave of unintended consequences. The often repeated 'world-leading' legislation shouldn't be an excuse for it not working properly.
Scoop: Meta's (formerly Facebook) Messenger app is set to be in the teen social media ban, accidentally!

Despite the government saying messaging apps will be excluded, the app won't be able to have <16 users because of the law's drafting and the way the platform works.

www.crikey.com.au/20...
November 13, 2025 at 2:12 AM
I enjoyed being interviewed for this podcast, which gave me space to outline what I think about the social media ban/delay for under16s in Australia + what young people & parents, carers & trusted adults in their lives need to think about *before* December 10th!

Listen here: www.curtin.edu.au/ne...
November 12, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Reposted by Tama Leaver
The webpage for our upcoming book has the cover on it now which is enough of a milestone for me to write another post about the book we have coming out soon. www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b...
November 11, 2025 at 5:05 AM
What do young Australians think about the 'Social Media Ban'?

Join young people and researchers online to find out what the upcoming changes mean for 12-15 year olds from around Australia.

🗓 Mon, 1 Dec 2025
⏰ 9:00am Perth ⏰ 11:00am Bris ⏰ 12:00pm Syd/Melb

👉 www.eventbrite.com.au/e/webinar-am...
November 10, 2025 at 5:20 AM
My 2 year old has just entered his diggers phase in earnest, so it's been nothing short of a revelation to find that the @internetarchive@mastodon.archive.org Internet Archive has a downloadable legal collection of the first 10 seasons of Bob the Builder!
Bob The Builder - Full Series : HIT Entertainment / HOT Animation / SD Entertainment : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Bob the Builder and his machine team are ready to tackle any project from small fix it jobs to big scale builds in exciting and dynamic locations. With...
archive.org
November 8, 2025 at 4:16 AM
We're very lucky having @kelleyhas2es.bsky.social present today at Curtin University for CCAT on Platform Epistemology: Shaping Algorithmic Knowledge in the Visibility Game, on the first leg of Kelley's Australian tour!
November 7, 2025 at 4:04 AM
After six years on the @aoir.bsky.social Exec Committee, I logged out of AoIR’s Insta acct yesterday, my very last task for the Exec. AoIR has been my core academic community for a long time, & the end of my time on the Exec has provoked some thoughts & feelings: www.tamaleaver.net/2025/11/05/r...
Reflecting on Six Years on the AoIR Executive Committee (Some Thoughts and Feels)
Last month at the Association of Internet Researcher’s (AoIR’s) annual conference—held for the first time in Latin American, namely in Niterói, Brazil—my time on Executive Committee came to an end …
www.tamaleaver.net
November 6, 2025 at 5:26 AM
Reposted by Tama Leaver
Interested in data centers? In critical data center studies?

Here's an open biblio -- anyone can add or borrow from it. Please do add anything that's missing. Enjoy!

docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Critical Data Center Studies
Critical Data Center Studies Books Amoore, Louise. 2020. Ethics Algorithms and the Attributes of Ourselves and Others Duke https://www.dukeupress.edu/cloud-ethics Bedir, M; Groen. L; Kuijpers. M; Sa...
docs.google.com
October 30, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Reposted by Tama Leaver
We would like to thank guest editors Jin Lee @jinlee.bsky.social, Crystal Abidin, and Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social (Curtin University, Australia) for bringing together this special issue on TikTok and Children.
October 16, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Reposted by Tama Leaver
Have you read our 28.5 issue yet?

Follow the thread to know more about the articles 🧶
October 16, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Reposted by Tama Leaver
🚨NEW PAPER ALERT 🚨 @tamigraph.bsky.social @briana-v.bsky.social and I discuss wellness chatbots, their labor implications, & "private vibes" vs "privacy". We call for critical human-AI communication scholarship that takes into account context & political economy: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
A chatbot for the soul: mental health care, privacy, and intimacy in AI-based conversational agents - Communication and Change
Artificial intelligence-based conversational agents—chatbots—are increasingly integrated into telehealth platforms, employee wellness programs, and mobile applications to address structural gaps in me...
link.springer.com
October 29, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Genuinely surprised Musk called his right-wing Wikipedia rip off Grokipedia and completely missed the opportunity to call it his X-Files. He's losing his edge! ;)

Elon Musk launches new AI-generated site Grokipedia to rival 'left-biased' Wikipedia
Elon Musk launches new AI-generated site to rival 'left-biased' Wikipedia
Billionaire Elon Musk has launched a new AI-generated site to compete with online encyclopedia Wikipedia, which he has accused of being "extremely left-biased".
www.abc.net.au
October 29, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Reposted by Tama Leaver
We welcome the Albanese government ruling-out a text-and-data-mining exemption for Big Tech.

By itself, this decision is insufficient. The Government needs to recognise that all Australians are creative individuals who deserve protection, not just those who make a living from artistic work.
October 27, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Reposted by Tama Leaver
Good on Australia for doing this! It’s such a deceptive practice to tell customers their price is increasing because of AI, when the old price is still available without genAI but only if you try to cancel.
Australia sues Microsoft for misleading Microsoft 365 users
Asia In Brief: PLUS: China demotes tech self-sufficiency goal; Alibaba Cloud quietly quits VMware; India demands deepfake labels; and more!
www.theregister.com
October 27, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Charlie the Unicorn (yes, that one, of Candy Mountain fame) was released this day 20 years ago. Memes are old. So am I.

Relive the joy/horror: www.youtube.com/watc...
October 25, 2025 at 11:00 PM