The Albanese Government will set up a new parliamentary committee to look at the effects of social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok on the lives of Australians. The announcement comes as Oz’s eSafety Commissioner is back in court today fighting billionaire Elon Musk’s platform X over a take-down order of graphic images of the Wakeley terror attack. The joint parliamentary select committee will look at the impacts of online scams, misconduct and harmful/illegal content distributed on the platforms – and it’ll also examine Meta’s decision to walk away from financial deals with news publishers. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said it’s “imperative that Australians have access to quality public interest journalism, including on social media”, adding that “social media companies have social responsibilities” and they “need to be more accountable and transparent.”