flew dmrc 11 sept 15
TRANSCRIPT
National Media Regulations in an Age of Convergent Media: Beyond Globalisation,
Neoliberalism and Internet Freedom Theories
Terry FlewDigital Media Research Centre
Seminar Series #411 September, 2015
Digital Media Research Centre
Background• T. Flew and S. Waisbord (2015)
The Ongoing Significance of National Media Systems in the Context of Media Globalization’, Media, Culture and Society, 37(4): 620-36.
• T. Flew (2016, in press) ‘National Media Regulations in an Age of Convergent Media’, in T. Flew, P. Iosifidis and J. Steemers (eds.), Global Media and National Policies (Palgrave), pp. 75-91.
Digital Media Research Centre
Background• ICA pre-conference London, May 2013 • Joint event of CAMRI (U. Westminster, UK) and CCI
- 36 participants from 16 countries• Questions– Does media globalisation weaken state capacities?– Is there a ‘return of the state’ in managing convergence
(e.g. copyright/IP laws)?– How is convergence reshaping PSM?– Pressures to harmonise national laws and regualtions– Are Google, Apple etc. now media companies?
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Globalisation and the ‘digital turn’: weakening nation states?
• End of ‘methodological nationalism’ (Ulrich Beck)• Shift to cosmopolitan/diasporic media and identities (Hepp &
Couldry)• ‘the state becomes just a node … of a particular network’
(Manuel Castells)• State institutions as ‘shell institutions’ (Anthony Giddens)• ‘TNCs have effectively surpassed the … nation-state’ (Hardt &
Negri)• ‘The nation-state is becoming too small for the big problems
of life, and too big for the small problems of life’ (Daniel Bell, 1987)
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Drivers of change1. Economic globalisation has shifted power away
from nation-states2. Political ideologies of neo-liberalism have been
used to weaken nation-states3. Globally networked internet cannot be regulated at
the national level4. Media scarcity assumptions that underpinned
regulation no longer hold5. Locus of influence has shifted to non-state actors
(corporations, NGOs, digital activists)
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Challenging the ‘disappearing state’ thesis
• Fallacy of the ‘scalar shift’: local > national > global – interscalar relations
• Path-dependency of national institutions: comparative media systems
• Global corporations operate as ‘nationalised’ entities
• No trend towards a declining public sector• Diversity of capitalisms: developmental states,
state capitalism, Putinism etc.
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7
Government spending in 13 OECD nations, 1980-2009
1980 1990 2000 2005 200930
35
40
45
50
55
60
Government spending in 13 OECD nations 1980-2009
AustriaBelguimBritainCanadaFranceGermanyItalyJapanNetherlandsSpainSwedenSwitzerlandUnited States13-nation average
Govt
. spe
ndin
g as
% o
f GDP
Source: The Economist, March 17, 2011.
Media convergence and regulatory divergence
• China: ‘Great firewall’/ ‘walled gardens’• Brazil: Marco Civil• Selective filtering in various jurisdictions• Australia: mandatory ISP filtering failed because
of domestic politics• Lessig, Code 2.0: need to get past state
censorship/personal liberty dichotomy• Regulation occurs at levels of code, algorithm,
structuring of participation etc.
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Various public enquiries into how to respond
• ‘Regulation constructed on the premise that content could (and should) be controlled by how it is delivered is losing its force, both in logic and in practice’ (ACMA, 2011)
• Australia: Convergence Review 2012• Singapore: Media Convergence Review 2012• UK: Review of Communications Act• EU: Convergence Green Paper (2013)• NZ: Content Regulation in a Converged World (2015)
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Conclusions• Nation-states quite central to Internet and
digital media developments• There is not a tendency towards policy
convergence (e.g. around neo-liberalism), but considerable cross-national policy learning occurs
• Tripartite levels of policy/regulation/governance• Exploratory phase for media policy making
worldwide
Digital Media Research Centre