Algorithms and digital platforms play increasingly important roles in governing how we communicate and how we discover and engage with media and culture. The ‘platform turn’ in dominant media systems has significant implications for life opportunities, employment, participation in the digital economy (whose content is distributed and prioritized?), the star system (who is promoted and how? what counts as success?), politics (which and whose perspective is dominant? how has political deliberation and debate been re-mediatized?), international relations (whose view of the world is dominant?) and social relations (how are inequities in representation reproduced and transformed?).

This conference will draw together researchers in Canada and beyond to explore the intersections between media/communications/cultural policy and platforms. Presentations will address arts policy, broadcasting policy, communication rights, Indigenous communication and cultural policy, competition policy, cultural industries policy, heritage policy, internet policy, media policy, speech regulation, privacy, smart city regulation, and platform regulation.

For more information, go to https://cnmap.mcmaster.ca/events/comcultpolicy2021/index.html.

Speakers

This panel will explore the following themes and questions:

-Indigenous media digital initiatives: What initiatives are happening? What policies and initiatives (can) support such initiatives?

-Indigenous data initiatives: What initiatives are happening? What policies and initiatives (can) support such initiatives?

-Indigenous broadband (digital infrastructure) initiatives: What initiatives are happening? What policies and initiatives (can) support such initiatives?

-What is an Indigenous platform? What role, if any, do non-Indigenous platforms have in supporting Indigenous media and voices?

-What role can or should regulators play?

Participants/Presenters:

Jesse Wente (Indigenous Screen Office)

Gwen Phillips (BC First Nations’ Data Governance Initiative)

Rob McMahon (University of Alberta)

Dan Smoke 

Marylou Smoke