Provocations: Is It Too Late to Save the Internet?

It's time to debate the pros and cons of the internet as it rapidly speeds us toward an unpredictable future.

The internet – what's not to love? Join us for a lively debate that will explore what can be done to save the internet from irreversible enshittification!

This event will shine a light on the online corners of creativity and community, the up-and-downsides of AI and encryption – and what can be done to harness and improve our online lives.Hear from experts, academics and artists Robin Fox, Marieke Hardy, Vanessa Toholka, Rob Cover, Lizzie O'Shea, Lisa Given, Akanksha Malik, Kate Geck and Julian Thomas as they reboot, reclaim, and maybe even restore your faith in the online world.

Speakers

  • Rob Cover - Professor of Digital Communication and Director of the RMIT Digital Ethnography Research Centre, and Digital Harm expert
  • Robin Fox - Co-founder and Artistic Director of MESS (Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio)
  • Kate Geck - Interior Design Lecturer from RMIT's School of Architecture and Urban Design
  • Lisa Given - Director and Co-Founder, Centre for Human-AI Information Environments, Professor of Information Sciences and the School of Computing Technologies
  • Zoë Coombs Marr - Comedian, performer and actor
  • Akanksha Malik - data and AI consultant and co-founder of Women Coders
  • Lizzie O'Shea - Lawyer and author, co-founder and chair of Digital Rights Watch
  • Julian Thomas - Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S)
  • Hosted by Vanessa Toholka, technology commentator and radio broadcaster

This event is part of Provocations - RMIT University's Talks and Ideas series.

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Provocations: Is It Too Late to Save the Internet?

Icon / Small / CalendarCreated with Sketch. 06 May 2026

It's time to debate the pros and cons of the internet as it rapidly speeds us toward an unpredictable future.

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'Can I Hold You?' by Chloe Rose Thomas

Icon / Small / CalendarCreated with Sketch. 19 May 2026 - 12 Jun 2026

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'Portable Stillness' by Ko Jou Chen

Icon / Small / CalendarCreated with Sketch. 19 May 2026 - 12 Jun 2026

'Portable Stillness' (2025), is an ongoing spatial installation that explores how the making of miniature objects and floating altar-like displays can express memory, collection, and the domestic in transition. Motivated by the instability of diasporic living and continual relocation, Ko Jou Chen constructs handmade structures that carry memory and presence across her shifting environments.

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Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.

Learn more about our commitment to Indigenous cultures