Reset Australia
Driving action to address the social harms caused by Big Tech.
We partnered with the Luminate Group on a Digital Democracy Lab — resulting in a new organization, Reset Australia, to advocate for the public interest against Big Tech.
Impact
100+ partner organizations engaged
50+ meetings with politicians
9 research reports released
Challenge
Tech giants exploit their user data for profit through targeted ads and sensationalist content that keeps users engaged while harvesting even more data. This business model amplifies disinformation, bigotry, conspiracy theories and extremism, normalizing extreme views and fragmenting public discourse.
Yet public perception blames individual users for harmful content, instead of platform designs that serve harmful business models. This critical misperception had to be reshaped — but who would do it?
Campaign
Reset Australia works to advance fair rules and standards for Big Tech companies and collaborates with partner organizations to inform the public about the digital threats to our democracy. Initially, it focused on responsible tech policies, children’s data protection, election integrity and COVID-19 misinformation. Key initiatives included advocating for a Children’s Data Code, tracking election disinformation and conducting experiments to expose social media platforms’ inadequacies in content moderation.
Impact
The founding work for Reset Australia built a strong supporter base, carried out critical research and engaged in pilot actions to support effective public policy. Since then, Reset Australia has influenced legislation, raised public awareness, and pushed for greater oversight of tech giants to protect users and democratic processes. It has become a key expert on tech issues, advising government and regulators, and has stayed in the public eye through media appearances, op-eds and events.
Engagements
350+ news articles
85+ media requests
