58202 Regulating Communication - Law, Ethics, Politics

Public, organisational and everyday communication practices are shaped through laws, policies and ethical codes. Investigating and comparing different regulatory approaches tells us much about our own assumptions about communication and its role in shaping our lives. Contests over law and ethics reflect underlying social, economic and political conflicts that shape political agendas and define public policy. The subject explores communication regulation in a range of Australian and international contexts and from historical and cross-cultural perspectives. Students investigate how codes and laws relate to communication practices by selecting from a range of topics such as defamation, censorship, intellectual property, privacy, data protection, surveillance, racial vilification, whistle-blowing, confidentiality, freedom of information, and the role of inter-state organisations, such as the United Nations, and non-government organisations. Students develop their practical understanding of these topics through a simulation role-playing game based on a hypothetical scenario designed to raise regulatory issues of contemporary relevance.