During the working visit to Australia, Chair of the National Council Olha Herasymiuk held a meeting with Nerida O’Loughlin, Chair of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), as well as with experts in gambling regulation.
The parties exchanged experiences in regulating gambling and alcohol advertising. As noted by the Chair of the National Council, Ukraine and Australia share remarkably similar positions on these issues, despite the countries’ differing economic and security contexts.
“We found that our approaches to protecting media audiences from the influence of gambling and alcohol are very similar, as is our understanding of the current state of the global and national information ecosystems,” said Olha Herasymiuk.
The Australian counterparts shared their perspective on the application of legislation regulating the influence of the gambling industry and restrictions on its advertising. In both countries, active debates with the industry are ongoing, yet the regulators maintain a clear and consistent position on consumer protection.
The parties also discussed the implementation of Australia’s legislation on age restrictions for children’s access to social media. The law, which prohibits registration for children under 16, was adopted following extensive consultations with parents, schools, and the public, and is considered one of the strictest approaches globally.
A debate has now erupted in the country over a new government proposal to include YouTube in the list of platforms subject to age restrictions. Google has threatened legal action, arguing that YouTube is a video-sharing platform, not a social network.
The participants also discussed current trends in media consumption: television and radio are rapidly losing ground, young people are not consuming news and instead follow influencers, and print media is disappearing. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a partial return to newspaper reading, but the trend has once again shifted in favour of digital platforms. All of this presents a field for further research into the future of an information-dependent world.
The chairs of the regulatory authorities agreed to cooperate and continue exchanging experiences and best practices.
