My weekly reading round-up
Facebook hid posts about Cyclone Alfred, we need to defend the arts from partisanship and YouTube’s exemption from the social media age ban is questioned.
≈ 2,946 words ⌇ Estimated reading time: 19 minutes
Returning home from Taipei on Monday straight into cylcone preparation as TropicalCyclone Alfred loomed off the Queensland coast left me saying WTF now?! I wasn’t even sure I would manage a post this week if there were power outages and telecommunications were down. But thankfully where I am was largely spared. My thoughts are with those who were more significantly impacted.
While we are talking about the cyclone, I was very concerned that Facebook had been hiding content about the cyclone from users. Notices in search results claimed some content was in breach of its Community Standards and Meta claims it was a technical glitch. That sounds like a cop-out to me. What do you think?
This week I am also increasingly concerned bipartisanship in the arts is over. As Trump’s takeover of the arts in the US continues to unfurl (but not without opposition) could it give Dutton ideas about arts policy without Creative Australia? In my opinion, the ongoing Venice Biennale saga makes it a target under the guise of an Australian DOGE-style ‘government efficiency’ push.
Circling back to Meta and social media, the social media giant has also come out against YouTube being exempted from the Australian social media minimum age scheme when it comes into force.
Also this week: a Spanish contemporary art museum added nearly 500 new works by underrepresented artists while a prominent US art museum cancelled two exhibitions featuring Caribbean and American artists of African-descent, the DOJ continues its push to break up Google and record labels up the stakes in their copyright claim against the Internet Archive.
What’s going on?
Here’s what I’ve noticed this week:
Cyclone Alfred content was blocked on Facebook in the lead-up to landfall
A technical issue or not, blocking Facebook search results for Tropical Cyclone Alfred was dangerous and Meta should be required to provide answers.
South East Queensland is still in the midst of Tropical Cyclone Alfred. After the immediate threat has passed the government and community will take stock of the impacts of the weather event – clean up will start, damage to homes and infrastructure will be assessed and plans to repair will begin. This is a cycle that is becoming far too familiar around the world as we continue to grapple with the realities of a changing climate of our making.
Beyond the important emergency responses though, one thing I hope gets questioned – at the right time – is why search results related to the cyclone were blocked and hidden on Facebook. Maybe this is still a little to soon for me to view objectively, but I think it is very concerning that content about Tropical Cyclone Alfred was withheld from Facebook users by Meta. The social media platform claims the reason users were seeing limited results or a message saying posts were “temporarily hidden” because “Some content in those posts goes against our Community Standards” was because of a technical issue. That sounds like a cop out to me.
As much as I would prefer it if everyone went to official government disaster websites for their information, the reality is that social media is an important source of information for many people in the lead-up to, during and after emergencies. Not only is it an important channel for disseminating information quickly but it also helps some communities experiencing the emergency to feel connected. Even if some problematic content was circulating on the social media platform, blocking all search results is inexcusable.
While I haven’t decided where I sit on the notion of a digital duty of care, I do think social media platforms should have an obligation to identify and monitor potential harms and act accordingly. Removing all results is not that. Even if it was a technical issue, Meta should provide a lot more details about what happened and why. It is a matter of public safety. An apology isn’t enough.
Relatedly, I know Community Notes – Meta’s copy of X’s community-driven alternative to fact-checking – hasn’t rolled out yet and is limited to the US, but if it were up and running in Australia I wonder how effective consensus between often polarised points of view would have been at ensuring appropriate warnings we affixed to misinformation and disinformation on Meta’s platforms?
What’s worth reading on blocked Cyclone Alfred content on Facebook:
Michael Workman and Kevin Nguyen – Wednesday 5 March 2025
ABC News Verify, ABC News, Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Is Facebook Censoring Cyclone Alfred Posts? ‘The Audacity Of Meta’
Simran Pasricha – Wednesday 5 March 2025
Pedestrian
More to read on the things mentioned in this listing:
Creative Australia’s Venice Biennale debacle makes it a potential Dutton target
The longer the Creative Australia Venice Biennale backflip drags on, the more likely the funding body will be a target regardless of the outcome of the next election.
Three weeks on from the start of the Creative Australia Venice Biennale saga and concern about the principles of peer review and arm’s length funding at the federal arts funding agency’s grow. Adrian Collette and the Board aren’t budging but, in an environment of partisanship around the arts, the bungle has to potential to make the agency a target if Dutton gets into power.
As we move past the initial newsworthiness of the decision more commentators are coming forward with opinions and analysis of Creative Australia’s moves. Here’s three that have particularly stood out to me.
Gallerist Josh Milani, who represents Khaled Sabsabi, spoke about the dismissal with Daniel Browning on Arts in 30 on ABC Radio National. Milani, like many of us in the sector, think the leadership of Creative Australia is untenable, but the agency and the principles behind it need to be salvaged. Milani joins a number of artists, arts workers and organisations calling for Sabsabi’s reinstatement as Australia’s representative. He credits Archie Moore’s incredible achievement winning the golden lion award at last year’s Venice Biennale as a jewel in the Australian art crown and a testament to a concerted effort move Australian art from the periphery of art internationally over the last decade. Without correction, he cautions that the Creative Australia Venice Biennale backflip threatens to set back that agenda significantly.
Associate Professor Jo Caust argued on The Conversation that, “The peer system works remarkably well if structured appropriately. At present it would seem it is not.” But I think this missed the point. While many grants and opportunities offered by Creative Australia are peer assessed, Australian’s representation at the Venice Biennale is not. The agency does empanel a group of independent national and international visual arts experts to advise it on Australia’s exhibition, but ultimately the agency makes the decision.
Brook Garru Andrew, writing for The Ethics Centre, weighed in, adding that, “Art that challenges dominant narratives has historically faced repression. Artists have been censored, exiled, or condemned for confronting power structures.” But the debate about Sabsabi’s practice was “quickly reduced to sensationalism and those seeking political gain.” ⟨ Andrew also does a great job of examining the geopolitical imbalances evident in the Venice Biennale “where artistic representation remains deeply entangled with power, privilege, and exclusion.” ⟩
Andrews goes on to say:
“When an artist like Sabsabi is removed from such a space, it is not just censorship – it is a lack of engagement with the world as it truly is: complex, layered, and shaped by histories of displacement and resilience. At a time when war, genocide, colonial legacies, and cultural erasure remain pressing concerns, his exclusion is a loss not only for Australia but for the ideals of artistic dialogue and exchange the Biennale is meant to uphold.
This moment underscores the need for genuine artistic and cultural engagement in a world in distress. Art is not just about provocation; it fosters dialogue and solidarity. While opinions on Sabsabi’s work may differ, his artwork is an expression of his lived experience. His exploration of difficult truths and diverse viewpoints underscores that nothing remains static.”
One thing seems obvious to me. The arts in here in Australia and in the US is no longer a bipartisan issue. Gone are the days when – whether Liberal or Labour, Republican or Democrat – the arts were largely seen as important to the community and democracy, and government investment in the arts and arts infrastructure went hand in hand with that. The increased politicisation of the arts to serve other agendas is a reality we now must content with.
Cyclone Alfred saw Albanese rule out an April election so we will have to wait a little longer to see if we have a change of government. If Labor maintain government it is hard to see how they can leave things as they are. They will need to do something to restore faith in the funding body – in the sector and the community. If we do see a Coalition win, who knows what a Dutton government will do? My concern is that a Dutton administration – embolden by Trump and Musk’s DOGE crusade against waste and ‘wokeness’ – will not be able to resist the target Adrian Collette has painted on Creative Australia’s back.
What’s worth reading (or listening) on the announcement and rescinding of Sabsabi’s exhibition at the Venice Biennale 2026:
More voices call for change in the leadership of Creative Australia
Daniel Browning – Wednesday 5 March 2025
Arts in 30, ABC Radio National, Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Jo Caust – Thursday 6 March 2025
The Conversation
Freedom of expression, the art of…
Brook Garru Andrew – Wednesday 5 March 2025
The Ethics Centre
More to read on the things mentioned in this listing:
Artistic freedom ⌇ Arts & culture ⌇ Arts & politics ⌇ Creative Australia
Is Trump’s arts takeover about more than a Golden Age of art?
Whatever Trump’s reasons, his takeover of the arts in America looks like authoritarianism.
There are many legitimate concerns that Trump’s excessive executive orders amounting to a power grab that looks alarmingly like authoritarianism, and the arts is not beyond Trump’s reach. The US has seen plenty of culture wars – as Australia has – but Trump’s designs on setting the cultural agenda seem obvious.
Whatever Trump’s reasons, some commentators see Trump’s moves to control the arts as another part of his dictatorial direction. A particularly well articulated analysis of this comes from Adrian Horton writing a few weeks back in The Guardian. Horton gives an historical account of the use of the arts to support political motivations: from Emperor’s and monarch’s commissions and patronage to “vivify their divine right to power, celebrate military conquests and cement preferred narratives” through the Stalinist abolition of independent artistic institutions in favour of State-sanctioned cultural production to Mao Zedong’s deadly cultural revolution, and more.
For many readers, Horton’s articulation of Hitler’s use of the arts to support Nazi ideals and to ‘other’ the Reich’s ‘enemies’ and claim that Trump is doing similar is perhaps the most real and concerning comment in the article. While careful not to outright claim Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement is the same as Hitler’s Nazi party, Horton doesn’t take too many steps back:
“Trump’s efforts to exert control over art typify the strategy of a dictator. Comparisons of the Trump presidency to Nazi Germany may be overdone and easily dismissed – even with Republican efforts to ban books in schools deemed “inappropriate”, among many other parallels, Maga and the Third Reich are not the same – but the new administration’s cultural decrees are very much a part of the authoritarian playbook to suppress dissent, scapegoat select groups and seize power.”
It is yet to be revealed exactly why Trump is “chip[ping] away at US cultural autonomy.” Still, Trump’s installment of himself and his loyalists into key roles at the Kennedy Centre and mandates on what can and can’t receive federal arts funding certainly looks like what we have seen in authoritarian administrations elsewhere.
What’s worth reading on Trump’s takeover of the arts:
Culture wars: Trump’s takeover of arts is straight from the dictator playbook
Adrian Horton – Saturday 22 February 2025
The Guardian
Trump chairing a major arts institution would be laughable if it weren’t so deeply troubling
Charlotte Higgins – Saturday 15 February 2025
The Guardian
Why Trump’s Takeover of the Kennedy Center Will Reverberate in Hollywood and Beyond
Philip Elliott – Wednesday 12 February 2025
TIME
What’s worth reading more generally on Trump’s power grab:
Trump’s ‘bald power grab’ could set US on path to dictatorship, critics fear
Chris McGreal – Saturday 1 March 2025
The Guardian
More to read on the things mentioned in this listing:
Artistic freedom ⌇ Arts & culture ⌇ Arts & politics ⌇ Arts in the US ⌇ Culture wars ⌇ Donald Trump
Small acts of resistance to Trump’s arts ideology
In the face of Trump’s arts takeover, we are seeing some small acts of resistance.
Resistance to Trump’s arts takeover is not easy, but there have been a few skirmishes taking place. Two worth noting this week including Hamilton cancelling its performance dates at the Kennedy Centre and a court case against the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) over the ‘gender ideology’ executive order.
Even when you are unable to make change, signaling your disapproval is important. That’s what hit musical Hamilton have done. They have seen Trump’s takeover of The John F. Kenney Centre for the Performing Arts and raised it with the cancellation of its 2026 run at Kennedy Center.
A statement from Hamilton producer Jeffrey Seller. pic.twitter.com/yTLlrzFAHW
— Hamilton (@HamiltonMusical) March 5, 2025
Social media content: Hamilton’s X post sharing producer Jeffrey Sellar’s statement cancelling Hamilton’s third engagement at the Kennedy Centre.
Cancelling your show because of the partisan policies the Kennedy Centre now finds itself operating under will not change those policies, but it does send a message to fans of the musical and the general public. It’s a message other acts have also made in response to the Trump Kennedy Centre administration.
Not even 30 minutes after Hamilton posted on X, the new Centre President, Trump loyalist Richard Grenell, also took to X to browbeat Hamilton and its makers, bombastically accusing them that “they can’t be in the same room with Republicans”.
Let’s be clear on the facts.
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) March 5, 2025
Seller and @Lin_Manuel first went to the New York Times before they came to the Kennedy Center with their announcement that they can’t be in the same room with Republicans.
This is a publicity stunt that will backfire.
The Arts are for everyone -… https://t.co/K56LjofULp
Social media content: Richard Grenell’s X post responding to Jeffrey Sellar’s statement cancelling Hamilton’s third engagement at the Kennedy Centre.
In another challenge to Trump’s takeover of the arts, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have filed a case in the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island against the NEA in response to how it implemented Trump’s executive order against ‘promoting gender ideology’. Following the order the NEA required grant applicants to certify they will not use federal funds in a way that would contravene the executive order.
The ACLU represents a number of arts organisations impacted by the change, including Rhode Island Latino Arts, National Queer Theater, The Theater Offensive and the Theatre Communications Group. The ACLU states, “The prohibition has led these organizations to alter the scope of their artistic projects—many of which involve transgender characters, cast transgender or nonbinary actors, and otherwise celebrate and affirm transgender and nonbinary people—or to be barred from NEA funding altogether.” We will wait to see if the courts agree the NEA requirement “is unconstitutional under the First and Fifth Amendments and violates the NEA’s governing statute” and “order[s] the NEA to refrain from implementing or giving effect to Executive Order 14168.” In the meantime, the NEA has agreed to remove the certification requirement until the case has concluded
What’s worth reading on Trump’s takeover of the arts:
Culture wars: Trump’s takeover of arts is straight from the dictator playbook
Adrian Horton – Saturday 22 February 2025
The Guardian
What’s worth reading on the ACLU case against the NEA:
Arts groups sue NEA for new ‘gender ideology’-related grant restrictions
Chloe Veltman – Thursday 6 March 2025
NPR
Rhode Island Latino Arts v. National Endowment for the Arts
Thursday 6 March 2025
American Civil Liberties Union
What’s worth reading on Hamilton cancelling its run at the Kennedy Centre:
‘Hamilton’ cancels planned Kennedy Center performances
Andrew Limbon – Thursday 6 March 2025
NPR
More to read on the things mentioned in this listing:
Artistic freedom ⌇ Arts & culture ⌇ Arts & politics ⌇ Arts in the US ⌇ Culture wars ⌇ Donald Trump
Other social media companies are pushing back on YouTube being exempted from the social media age ban
Other social media companies call out the government excluding YouTube from the social media age ban.
Meta, Snapchat and TikTok are pushing for the Australian government to reconsider the exemption they are proposing to give YouTube from the social media minimum age legislation due to come into force at the end of this year. Meta slammed YouTube’s exemption on its Australian policy blog, saying, “This proposed blanket exception [for YouTube] makes a mockery of the Government’s stated intention, when passing the age ban law, to protect young people.” They argue that YouTube is the most popular social media used by Australians under 16 years of age, it includes the features and harmful content the legislation is designed to protect young people from and that the educational benefits of YouTube can be realised without logging into an account.
I do agree with Meta (to a point at least) when they say:
“While Meta is concerned about the lack of evidence and transparency on how this law was passed and is being implemented, we call on the government to ensure equal application of the law across all social media services.”
Looking at the Exposure Draft for the legislative rule that will put YouTube outside the band, it is also worth noting that it will also exempt:
- Instant messaging apps (identified as platforms that have the sole or primary purpose of enabling end-users to communicate by means of messaging)
- Online gaming (identified as platforms that have the sole or primary purpose of enabling end-users to play online games with other end-users)
- Educational apps (identified as platforms that have the sole or primary purpose of supporting the education of end-users), including apps for educational communication (identified as platforms with a significant purpose of facilitating communication between educational institutions and students or students’ families)
- Health app (identified as platforms that have the sole or primary purpose of supporting the education of end-users), including apps for health care communication (identified as platforms with a significant purpose of facilitating communication between providers of health care and people using those providers’ services)
If the rule is passed as drafted, such platforms will still be exempted, even where they include paid or unpaid advertising material.
What’s worth reading on opposition to YouTube’s exemption from the social media age ban:
Big tech opposes YouTube exemption from Australia’s ban on social media for children
Renju Jose – Wednesday 5 March 2025
Engadget
Meta’s concerns about YouTube’s proposed exemption from the social media minimum age law
Wednesday 5 March 2025
Meta Australia Policy Blog, Meta
More to read on the things mentioned in this listing:
Facebook ⌇ Google ⌇ Instagram ⌇ Meta ⌇ Social media ⌇ Social media age restrictions ⌇ Snapchat ⌇ TikTok
A bit on the side
Other tasty tidbits this week:
- Trump’s vision for the arts in Amercia has claimed more victims, this time numerous artists involved in two exhibitions featuring culturally diverse artists at the Art Museum of the Americas. A group show featuring works by Caribbean and American artists of African-descent called Before The Americas and Nature’s Wild with Andil Gosine, a solo show that saw Gosine collaborate with a dozen other artists and several writers exploring art, activism, and homosexuality in the Caribbean were both cancelled.
More on this: Artistic freedom ⌇ Arts & culture ⌇ Arts & politics ⌇ Arts in the US ⌇ Culture wars ⌇ Donald Trump - While diversity in the arts in the US is being shut down, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, Spain’s national museum of contemporary art, 470 new works were added to increase the gender balance and racial diversity of its collection. More than half of the incoming works are by women and a significant amount of them are by artists from underrepresented ethnic backgrounds. It’s a bold and admiral move given the previous director Manuel Borja-Villel left the museum after a right-leaning newspaper criticised his curation, calling it “political propaganda”. The current director Manuel Segade said “the selection of new works should not be seen as “woke or feminist” but about ensuring the collection better represents the evolution of contemporary art.”
More on this: Arts & culture ⌇ Arts & diversity ⌇ Culture wars - Even with the change of administration, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) are continuing their push to break up Google because of their search monopoly. They will continue to push for Google to sell the Chrome web browser and stop them from paying for players such as Apple, other smartphone manufacturers and rival web browser developer Mozilla from making Google Search the default search service. We should know where this lands sometime in April.
More on this: Big Tech & monopolies ⌇ Big Tech court cases ⌇ Chrome ⌇ Google ⌇ Google Search ⌇ Search - The music labels that are pursuing the Internet Archive for the Great 78 Project have added 500 more sound recordings to copyright infringement court case. The project seeks to digitise the 3 million three-minute recordings published on 78 revolutions-per-minute (RPM) records from about 1898 to the 1950s. If the tracks are added it could see damages for the case climb to $700 million. If imposed, that could bankrupt the nonprofit – but perhaps that’s the point.
More on this: Archives ⌇ Copyright court cases ⌇ Internet Archive ⌇ Music streaming
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This blog post was drafted using Google Docs. No part of the text of this blog post was generated using AIAI is tech and marketing speak for a range of technology that imitates human intellect. Learn more →. The original text was not modified or improved using AIAI is tech and marketing speak for a range of technology that imitates human intellect. Learn more →. No text suggested by AIAI is tech and marketing speak for a range of technology that imitates human intellect. Learn more → was incorporated. If spelling or grammar corrections were suggested by AIAI is tech and marketing speak for a range of technology that imitates human intellect. Learn more → they were accepted or rejected based on my discretion (however, sometimes spelling, grammar and corrections of typos may have occurred automatically in Google Docs).
The icon in the banner image (i.e. the first image at the top of the blog post) was generated by AIAI is tech and marketing speak for a range of technology that imitates human intellect. Learn more → using Text to Vector Graphic (BetaBeta is an early release of software or some other product or service to see how users use it to inform further development of it…. Learn more →) in AdobeSoz! @elliottbledsoe hasn’t gotten to this term yet!
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Image: A colourful icon of a question mark and exclamation mark. The question mark is in two shades of purple and a large exclamation mark is in two shades of green. Both sit on an orange background. The icon is an adaptation of an vector graphic generated by Elliott Bledsoe using the AIAI is tech and marketing speak for a range of technology that imitates human intellect. Learn more → tool Text to Vector Graphic (BetaBeta is an early release of software or some other product or service to see how users use it to inform further development of it…. Learn more →) in AdobeSoz! @elliottbledsoe hasn’t gotten to this term yet!
Learn more → Illustrator.
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This blog post was produced by Elliott Bledsoe from Agentry, an arts marketing micro-consultancy. It was first published on Sunday 9 March 2025. It has not been updated. This is version 1.0. Questions, comments and corrections are welcome – get in touch any time.
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