Ideasroom

The election campaign has been a yawn, writes Matt Bartlett, and worse, a missed opportunity for politicians to offer a wider vision for technology in this country

Nobody could mistake this election for a grand contest of ideas. While the blight of Covid-19 has offered an opportunity to rebuild the economy in a new and forward-thinking direction, Labour and National have instead competed to see who can deliver the least inspired policy platform.

It didn’t need to be this way. In an exception to their otherwise flailing campaign, National launched a $1.29 billion-dollar technology policy that showed some genuine vision for New Zealand’s economy. While some of the trumpeted numbers,“100,000 new jobs!”, are certainly optimistic, the party is right to focus on attracting high-skilled tech talent from overseas, and boosting research and development at home. The real shock is that this is essentially the only technology policy on the table this year.

Surely, in the year of working from home, online schooling and Zoom-based socialising, the parties would be clamouring to show they understand technology issues? Particularly when the campaign itself has largely been waged online? Unfortunately not. In line with their newfound distaste for real reform, Labour’s only contribution is a proposal for a digital services tax. This is an idea that has been on the table for a while, and it’s fair to question whether Labour will later tuck it into the too-hard basket – right next to the plan for a capital gains tax.

As for the rest of the parties, the New Conservatives want to ban pornography (bless them). NZ First has no technology policy — after all, why stress about the 4th Industrial Revolution when there are racetracks to fund? The Greens do have a range of thoughtful policies reflecting some good thinking around technology issues, although this doesn’t reflect a newfound love for tech policy so much as a campaign with a policy for everything.

Overall, this campaign has seen precious little debate about the role of technology in our society and economy. National’s technology policy is mostly restricted to economic levers, which are important but separate from the many other issues society increasingly needs to grapple with. Technology is no longer the niche domain of computer nerds — instead, it intersects with a range of public policy questions, including those that go to the heart of our democracy.

Take the media, which has had a frankly brutal year. During the first lockdown, Bauer Media shuttered its doors, though happily, some of these look to have been resurrected by new buyers. NZME laid off hundreds of staff and Stuff was sold for a dollar. Coronavirus hurt these companies, but every media executive was clear on the real cause of the industry’s capitulation: not the virus, but the departure of ad revenue to Facebook and Google.

This is an urgent situation for the Fourth Estate, but it’s also a question about the role of Big Tech. Should we follow Australia and support media by requiring tech giants like Facebook and Google to pay royalties to news companies? Or would that represent an unhelpful tax on innovation? Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told reporters that “Nothing less than the future of the Australian media landscape is at stake.” However, it’s apparently not important enough for either major party in New Zealand to take a position.

What about the Christchurch Call, the agreement brokered by the Government after last year’s tragic massacre to stop the viral spread of violent imagery over social media? How can that initiative be expanded and enforced?

Another area in need of reform is privacy, where the country’s newly amended Privacy Act offers feeble protection for New Zealanders online, particularly compared to the European Union’s gold standard, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

National’s new policy for technology does not mention privacy at all, nor Facebook, Google, social media or the Christchurch Call. National’s plan “NZ Tech 2030” is narrowly concerned with boosting jobs and exports. Meanwhile, key technology issues that affect millions of New Zealanders’ lives are left entirely unaddressed.

It appears to be too much for parties to tackle the complex issues around phone addiction, online echo chambers and targeted advertising. This is a shame and a missed opportunity – plenty of New Zealanders are thinking critically about social media and the problems posed by Facebook and the tech giants. The brilliant Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, which is focused on these issues, has been one of the most watched shows in New Zealand.

Even if the parties are nervous about taking on Silicon Valley, why are they not battling to extend a helping hand to our video game industry — one of the fastest-growing parts of the economy? There is low hanging fruit here for a government of any stripe. Supporting innovative technology companies doesn’t even require a budget splurge. New Zealand could and should change its regulations to create a more welcoming ecosystem for game designers, blockchain engineers and AI programmers. If parties actually value innovation like they all say they do, there are more than enough opportunities to demonstrate this with uncontroversial, common-sense policies.

Covid-19 isn’t going anywhere in a hurry. The world will continue to embrace technology by necessity: that means more working from home, more remote learning and (sadly) yet more Zoom-based socialising in our future. Technology will only become more important to New Zealand, not less so. We can only hope that our representatives start to treat issues of technology policy with the seriousness they deserve.