Digital Industry Group Inc. (DIGI)

This Scams Awareness Week, the ACCC National Anti-Scam Centre is asking consumers to #ShareAScamStory. Talking about scams helps others identify scam activity and take action to report it. We had our own scam story recently when DIGI’s Tahlia Davies (she/her) Davies received an email impersonating DIGI’s MD Sunita Bose. There were signs it was not a genuine communication – a different email signature, different email, stilted copy, but if you were in a rush, they might be harder to spot. Gmail had automatically put the email in the spam folder, and also included a notification at the top of the email to flag it as suspicious. We also reported it because clicking the ‘report’ button is a tangible way that Australians can help protect each other. This #SAW24 DIGI encourages Australians to report scams as a way to protect others in the community, and make use of the reporting mechanisms on mainstream digital platforms. While such reporting mechanisms are longstanding, under the new Australian Online Scams Code, launched by DIGI last month, major companies — including Discord, Google, Meta, Snap, TikTok, Twitch, X and Yahoo – have doubled down on their commitments to offer reporting tools to all Australians, as well as law enforcement and trusted Government partners, and to remove scams as quickly as possible. In addition to reporting to a platform or service, the NASC has shared the following steps to take quickly if something feels wrong: ✅ Contact your bank immediately if you lose money ✅ If you have provided personal information call IDCARE on 1800 595 160 ✅ Report scams to the National Anti-Scam Centre’s Scamwatch service at scamwatch.gov.au Check out DIGI's How to report scams on digital platforms guide: https://lnkd.in/gEiEWvm4 Read the Australian Online Scams Code: https://lnkd.in/gW7Hs-Tm

Recently Digital Industry Group Inc. (DIGI) Managing Director, Sunita Bose, was invited to share her vision for Australia's tech future at the Tech Policy Design Centre gala #TechPolicyFutures24 at Parliament House. Big thank you to Johanna Weaver, Zoe Jay Hawkins, Sunita Kumar and the whole TPDC team for inviting us to explore Australia's tech future. Find out more below👇

✨ 🌟 💫 What a night! 🌟 💫 ✨ #TechPolicyFutures24 brought together politicians, officials, civil society advocates, industry, innovators, and scholars in Parliament House to talk about designing the technology tomorrow we want and need. 🤝 The Australian National University's Tech Policy Design Centre was thrilled to host our second annual #TechFutures event, in partnership with auDA - .au Domain Administration Ltd. as the gala event of the Parliamentary Friends of Tech Policy. 🤖 Attendees explored a range of possible futures set in 2044, tried out #foodprinting, had their #techtarot read, heard about #TPDC research, and enjoyed our famous #oyster shucker. 🎤 Thanks to our incredible speakers for their thought-provoking #speedspeeches that traversed a wide variety of perspectives: Genevieve Bell, Vice Chancellor of ANU; The Hon Paul Fletcher MP Manager of Opposition Business; Helen Wilson of Department of Industry, Science and Resources; Rosemary Sinclair AM of auDA; Kate Chaney MP; Senator David Shoebridge; Professor Elanor Huntington of CSIRO; Brett Solomon of Access Now; Allegra Spender MP; Sunita Bose of Digital Industry Group Inc.; and Lizzie O'Shea of Digital Rights Watch. At #TPDC, we are passionate about the power of #techpolicy, because the tech we build today will shape our future tomorrow! Stay tuned for more insights and photos from #TechPolicyFutures24

Today, 12 March, the Search Engine Services online safety code commences. It follows five other industry codes already in place for social media, app stores, internet service providers, hosting providers, device manufacturers and suppliers. In 2023, the eSafety Commissioner deferred a decision on registering the Search Engine Services code to allow time for industry to account for the rise in #GenerativeAI technology. Generative AI is a rapidly developing and early-stage technology. To harness its full social and economic benefits, it’s essential that its development and deployment is underpinned by appropriate safety principles, which we reflected in the code for internet search engines. One of the unique advantages of industry-led codes is the way they can incorporate expertise from the companies developing the technology. The codes were developed as 'principles based', rather than a prescriptive set of rules, and the flexibility embodied in this approach helps ensure the codes can be adapted and applied within a rapidly evolving digital information environment. We have welcomed the continued collaborative working relationship between the eSafety Commissioner and industry on codes that will offer important safeguards for Australian communities. You can read more about the codes at onlinesafety.org.au

Mobile World Congress happened last week, bringing people from around the world together to discuss connectivity – and  the GTWN (Global Telecom Women's Network)’s annual magazine, The Mobile Century, was launched on the sidelines to offer expert perspectives on key issues in the digital sector. In the 2024 edition, Digital Industry Group Inc. (DIGI) Managing Director, Sunita Bose, shared her personal career reflections, including on why collaboration is key to effective technology policy. While DIGI is focused on Australian policy, we were pleased to join the global conversation of #MWC. As Sunita says: “Keeping technology safe, secure and equitable is one of the important challenges of our time. It is also a complex endeavour and, if oversimplified or developed in a vacuum, the laws proposed to rise to that challenge will be ineffective. Getting technology policy right relies on innovative and best-in-class processes to ensure civil society, consumers, industry and Governments are all deeply engaged in the policy problem, and are empowered to contribute all of their expertise to the solution.” The Mobile Century also aims to inspire the next generation by profiling women in leadership - a mission worth celebrating every day and, especially as we head towards, International Women’s Day #IWD2024. Read the full article for Sunita’s reflections on the value of consultation and consensus building in her career.

DIGI is excited to welcome a new signatory to The Australian Code of Practice on Misinformation and Disinformation (ACPDM): Twitch!   Twitch is the newest signatory of the ACPDM – joining Apple, Adobe, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Redbubble and TikTok – in making a public and accountable commitment. Signatories to the ACPDM commit to taking action on mis- and disinformation, including through sharing insights and data into their management of the issue in Australia. The signatories of the ACPDM now include an even wider range of digital services, spanning interactive livestreaming, software, news and information, marketplaces, and communication platforms. The code is principles-based, enabling a wide diversity of digital services to be able to adopt it, and provides a blueprint for best practice open to any digital service committed to taking action on mis- and disinformation in Australia. The ACPDM was created to further bolster accountability, establish benchmarks for progress, and create public resources that can provide researchers, civil society and Governments in particular with insights into the scale and management of mis- and disinformation in Australia. Signatory technology companies have voluntarily committed to, and continue to evolve, safeguards that protect against online disinformation and misinformation. Read more at the DIGI website - https://lnkd.in/gahba4pp

Safer Internet Day is a global event that unites communities, families, industry, schools around a common goal - creating safer online spaces.  The theme #ConnectReflectProtect invites us to consider what actions we can take to make a safer internet. While many of today’s discussions will focus on the kinds of actions we can take as individuals to have more control over our experiences online, there’s another important piece of the puzzle. When it comes to online safety, we all have a part to play. DIGI’s members invest heavily in online safety and have tailored policies and reporting procedures that reflect the kind of service they deliver. The best place to start when you encounter potentially harmful content online is by reporting it to the digital platform for review. DIGI also contributes to a safer internet through our work on the Online Safety Codes. The world leading codes, drafted by us and other industry associations, regulate seriously harmful online content, including child sexual exploitation and pro-terror material. This offers an additional layer of protection to Australians online. The codes covering social media companies, app stores, internet service providers, hosting providers, device manufacturers and suppliers, which were registered by the eSafety Commissioner in June this year became enforceable on 16 December 2023. The Search Engine Services Code, which was registered in September this year, will become enforceable by the Office of the eSafety Commissioner on 12 March 2024. The Online Safety Codes require digital services and equipment suppliers and manufacturers to implement a range of measures including best practice tools and safety settings and risk management processes that together enhance the safety of the digital environment for end-users in Australia. We believe it’s vital that Australians understand what tools are available to them from digital platforms and the government, if they need support with an experience online.  

DIGI believes Australia needs a vision for how we want to grow the use of AI, which is key to our productivity, economic growth and can drive positive social impact, while ensuring it is deployed safely and responsibly. The questions posed by the development of AI technology are as endless as its potential. Recently, DIGI Managing Director, Sunita Bose, joined a range of experts and the Tech Policy Design Centre to tease out some of these questions.    Tech Policy Hypotheticals was the launch event of the Parliamentary Friends of Tech Policy, chaired by the Hon. Paul Fletcher MP, Dr Michelle Ananda-Rajah MP, Kate Chaney MP, Senator David Pocock, and Senator David Shoebridge. DIGI is proud to be a partner of this group, providing a non-partisan forum for parliamentarians to meet and interact with experts from academia, civil society, and industry on tech policy and regulation matters.    With thanks to Johanna Weaver and ANU Tech Policy Design Centre for co-hosting this session, and to fellow panellists, who took up the mantle of responding to the evolving hypotheticals with gusto. Lizzie O'Shea (Digital Rights Watch), Bill Simpson-Young (Gradient Institute), Angus Capel (Xero), Ramah Sakul (SAP), Ben Rice (Tech Council of Australia), Brendan Dowling (Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) and Leah Lafferty(#TPDC) DIGI looks forward to continuing our engagement with other expert stakeholders as we pave the way for safe and responsible AI innovation in Australia.

This #ScamsWeek2023, learn more about how the digital industry works to stop scammers in their tracks👇 DIGI’s members invest heavily in protecting Australian consumers from scams. Approaches are diverse (just like the digital industry itself) but, often include: 📍Safety-by-design  📚Policies and reporting  📝Consumer education and digital literacy 📉Proactive detection As well as representing our members’ efforts, DIGI is a proud representative of the Advisory Board of the ACCC new National Anti-Scams Centre (NASC) and support close collaboration between industry and government to understand and respond to this complex issue. 

Complaint by Reset Australia against X (f.k.a Twitter) upheld by Australian Code of Practice on Disinformation and Misinformation complaints sub-committee. Read the full statement from the committee here - https://lnkd.in/drb_XJSk.