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Labor Government ministers are worried. They’re very worried.

Not about house prices, which have plummeted despite promises they wouldn’t.

Not about power prices, which have skyrocketed despite promises to the contrary.

And not about Capital Gains Tax, which was changed despite promises there’d be no change.

No. No. Labor Government ministers are worried that Australians… just don’t believe them anymore.

No One Believes Them Anymore

The Australian public has started treating government promises the way most sensible people treat emails from Nigerian princes.

And it’s a real problem.

My heart went out to Communications Minister Anika Wells, who told The Saturday Paper what it was like to be a member of the Albanese Government in the current environment…

“A lady came to me to talk about her various grievances.

“I had to say to her, I’m a member of the cabinet so that’s not true, we’re not doing that, that’s a scare campaign from online.

“I looked her in the eye and told her that will never happen in this government, and she didn’t believe me!”

I did think it was cute that Anika Wells thought explaining how she was a member of the Federal Labor cabinet would suddenly make her more believable.

That’s an interesting theory of credibility.

But I shouldn’t make a joke about this because it’s a serious problem.

I mean, imagine not being able to trust a Labor politician when they look you in the eye and make a promise.

Oh wait. Remember when then-Victorian Labor Deputy Leader Ben Carroll looked his leader Jacinta Allan in the eye and promised he would always support her?

(He famously knifed her a few weeks later.)

The Real Problem: Social Media Algorithms?

So what’s led to this breakdown of trust between the Albanese Government and the Australian public?

Now, I know what you’re thinking.

You’re thinking that a lot of people have stopped trusting Labor because Labor keeps telling bald-faced lies — on everything from power prices to Japanese melons.

But here’s what you need to understand.

You only think Labor’s lies are Labor’s problem because you’ve been hanging out with Elon Musk rather than watching the ABC.

The real problem, as Anika Wells explained quite brilliantly, is not Labor’s lies but social media algorithms…

“What I’m noting now is that the power of online is so strong, the algorithm is so strong, that it is overwhelming our public institutions and that is problematic for everybody.”

There’s an algorithm at play, that’s for sure. It’s the algorithm in people’s heads where they expect others to do what they say instead of the exact opposite.

But Labor Ministers seem never to have been exposed to that algorithm.

They’re blaming social media algorithms, which they announced yesterday they would seek to restrict.

It’s amazing.

PM: This Is About Giving People Control

People are losing faith in government, and so the government’s solution isn’t to apologise for its lies. Instead, they’re going to restrict the flow of information.

Of course, they say it’s not about limiting free speech. But… and here’s the problem… they would say that, wouldn’t they?

Here’s what the Prime Minister told journalists yesterday…

“My government is determined to make sure that people are in control and that is what this is all about.

“This is not about giving government control, it’s about giving people control.”

The PM announced that the government would force social media companies to allow people to choose whether they want to only see the people they follow, or whether they are happy to be shown other content via algorithms based on what their viewing history shows they’re interested in.

Anika Wells looked journalists right in the eye and said this…

“Let me be very clear, the Digital Duty of Care is not about controlling adults online, it is about giving adults a choice.”

But wait. I thought I already had a choice.

Sometimes, when I’m on social media, if something pops up that I don’t want to look at … I just flick straight past it.

Didn’t need Anika Wells to help me do it. I just did it all by myself.

Australians have possessed this extraordinary technology for centuries. It’s called a thumb.

But, alas, the algorithm must have been working overtime in Canberra yesterday because the press pack seemed sceptical.

They asked Albanese repeatedly whether his “My Feed, My Way” legislation was really about the government trying to restrict what Australians see.

“It’s not about censorship, it’s about giving people control for themselves over what they see.”

Labor MP Says It Out Loud: It’s About ‘Right-Wing Populists’

Here’s the uncomfortable truth for Labor.

I think most Australians trust social media algorithms more than they trust this Labor Government.

Here’s a question for you…

Do you reckon, if the polls showed the far left was rapidly growing in support — rather than One Nation — that the government would suddenly care about your human right to opt out of the Instagram algorithm?

Here’s what Assistant Productivity Minister Andrew Leigh said last week…

“We’re seeing that in politics where the algorithms are weaponising anger and outrage and it’s one of the factors in the rise of right-wing populists around the world.”

Wait a second. I thought this was about giving people choice.

But did Andrew Leigh say that the problem with algorithms is that they’re helping the rise of… right-wing parties?

Andrew Leigh was asked, on the ABC…

“Isn’t it reasonable to raise questions about issues around freedom of speech and how it will work?”

He replied…

“This isn’t going to affect adults’ freedom of speech. It’s simply the ability to opt out of an algorithm that we know has been polarising people.”

But when he was asked if this is really about trying to stop people from seeing right-wing content, he replied…

“We’re seeing polarisation right across the spectrum but we do know that the anger-tainment model is a model which favours right-wing angry populists.”

So… it’s all about giving Australians choice and the most important choice we can choose is the choice not to see right-wing populists! Angry or otherwise.

Got it.

Here’s some more of Andrew Leigh talking about algorithms and the importance of choice…

“We’ve seen a significant divergence in attitudes of young men and young women on gender issues, for example, with young men now having more conservative gender attitudes than my generation of Gen X.”

A Digital Duty of Care for Albo

Hmmm… God forbid young men be exposed to conservative attitudes! Next thing you know, they’ll be voting conservative. And then where will the algorithm be?

And isn’t that what this legislation is really about?

It’s a Digital Duty of Care alright. But I suspect it’s less about a Digital Duty of Care for you and much more about a Digital Duty of Care… for Albo and his progressive ideology.

Why do I think that’s the case?

Well, because Anthony Albanese looked us all in the eye yesterday and said that wasn’t the case.

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Republished with thanks to The James Macpherson Report. Originally titled, “Blame the Algorithm”. Image via screenshot of YouTube.