July 26, 2022 — 2.49pm
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Social media’s terrifying ambitions, the joy of random tattoos from a stranger, and bestiality are all on a diverse menu for this year’s Festival of Dangerous Ideas.
Held at Carriageworks, it’s the 11th iteration of the two-day event and will be held in person for the first time in two years.
“To have the opportunity to get people together, to allow them to follow their curiosity and present people from across Australia and across the world live to them actually feels incredibly dangerous,” says director Danielle Harvey.
“We’re trying to provide a place for people to come together and listen to ideas, some that they won’t agree with and some that they might agree with but just to listen and be curious about the world we live in.”
Headlining the event, presented by the Ethics Centre, will be US data engineer Frances Haugen, who last year released tens of thousands of internal documents from Facebook, demonstrating how the social media behemoth repeatedly puts profit before public welfare.
Haugen testified to the US Congress that Facebook’s lack of oversight had caused “more division, more harm, more lies, more threats and more combat”.
“In some cases, this dangerous online talk has led to actual violence that harms and even kills people,” she continued.
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