3rd March 2021 | 28:47

Our guests today are Brian Martin, Emeritus Professor at the University of Wollongong and Daniel Teng, Director at The Epoch Times in Australia.

Brian Martin, Emeritus Professor at the University of Wollongong, Australia. Professor Martin has been a prominent supporter of academic freedom and has made a great contribution to the research and commentary on dissent, free speech, whistleblowing, and advocacy.

Daniel Teng, is Director at The Epoch Times in Australia. The Epoch Times is one of the largest, independent Chinese-language news media groups in the world, headquartered in New York City. The Epoch Times has experienced censorship in many forms and most recently on YouTube.

EDITORIAL

This Pandemic has demonstrated how quickly our individual liberties can be taken away, even in Liberal Democracies

Governments have given themselves emergency powers, the implications of which many of us don’t understand. These powers and secret indemnities remove accountability for serious harm and mismanagement.

In this environment, we’ve also witnessed tight control of information and Mainstream media and Big Tech have emerged as effective enablers.

So why would we think the Governments would stand up for freedom of expression, or fight BIG TECH and media censorship?

During Covid19, the focus of concern in this country is not hate-speech but misinformation and its danger to public health.

But the arbiters of misinformation – Government, Mainstream media and Big Tech have been the greatest promoters of misinformation during a pandemic – all in the name of public interest.

Houston, we’ve got a problem!