Trump announces Russia-Ukraine ceasefire + The US midterms explained

Sacha Barbour Gatt (0:08)

Hello, happy Monday, and welcome to The Briefing, Sacha Barbour Gatt with you. The US midterm elections happen halfway through a sitting president's term every four years. And a month out from the vote, this one in particular is expected to be crucial for Donald Trump's hold on power.

Chas Licciardello (0:24)

Trump is less popular than pretty much any other midterm president in history.

But having said that, they're all unpopular. It's very rare to have a president be popular at this part of the cycle.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (0:37)

Explaining what's at stake and what to expect in the November 3 midterms is coming up in the second half of this episode. But first, as always, it's time for the headlines with Chris Spyrou on Monday, the 12th of October.

Chris Spyrou (0:50)

Good morning, Sacha. We could soon be able to switch off or opt out of the algorithm on social media, with the government introducing and hoping to pass its digital duty of care laws in Parliament this week. The laws would also make social media, online games, apps and AI chatbot companies responsible for protecting under-18s from harmful content, which it's defined to include porn, bullying, misogynistic material, content promoting eating disorders and content that glorifies crime. Companies that don't comply could be fined up to $100 million.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (1:22)

When the draft came out last month, it allowed for the communications minister to add new types of harmful content to that list on their own as a discretionary power without needing to get anything checked or approved by anybody else. The coalition called that political censorship and it's also been called out by newly elected Greens leader David Shoebridge who says it hands the minister too much power. So on Sunday, the government dropped it from the legislation. So now only parliament will be able to add to the list. Now Labour needs either the Greens or the coalition to get this through the Senate. And it does look like the Greens are getting on board. A Green source has told the AAP the party is keen to see it passed, but they want to see the final bill before they commit. However, as we know, David Shoebridge has only just taken over and he's really made a point that they want to push Labour on some really key issues, not just on this, but on a lot of things. What do we know about that, Chris?

Chris Spyrou (2:15)

Yeah, so we've heard from Green's communication spokesperson, Sarah Hanson Young. She says that the fines that the government's looking to introduce is so 100 million is too small. She kind of wants it tethered to the company's global revenue rather than set amounts. And she says that the government very much needs to go over how addictive these platforms are and the penalties that are being threatened at the moment, she says, just don't go far enough. She also wants to create new pathways for individuals to sue big tech through private action. So not through the e-safety commission or commissioner alone. That's kind of how it works at the moment and how these laws are being proposed that will all kind of go through e-safety. She's saying we need to open that up.

As to what we've heard from the communications minister, Annika Wells, she will be addressing the National Press Club on Thursday. So we might get some more detail there too. But she has promised to work constructively with the Greens or any other party willing to come to the table. I know in the past she had said that the Coalition have been complaining a lot about this, but no one's actually come to us to work with us on this. So yeah, we do have enough going at the moment to suggest that they'll strike a deal with the Greens. The Coalition, for their part, their shadow communications spokesperson Sarah Henderson warned on the weekend that the duty of care laws could restrict free speech. So they're still sticking to their talking points there.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (3:41)

Overseas now, and Donald Trump is attempting to negotiate an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine as he faces growing pressure over fuel prices in the US. Overnight, the US president posted to social media that a deal had been reached between the warring countries for Russia to stop targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure in exchange for a halt to attacks on its oil refineries. In the post, Trump wrote, both parties have agreed do not break it.

Chris Spyrou (4:08)

But shortly afterwards, Ukraine's president, Vladimir Zelensky, told Axios he wasn't aware of the deal. Quote, that was news to me, he said. But he would agree as long as his Russian counterpart does. At the time of recording, Vladimir Putin has not responded. This follows days of escalating tensions between the US and Ukraine as Trump faces growing scrutiny over soaring fuel prices less than a month out from the crucial midterm elections, which we do get into in your deep dive after the headlines. Trump announced on Friday US time a temporary lifting of sanctions on Russian diesel exports, angering Zelensky who labelled the move weak as saying it would generate billions for Moscow to wage war even more intensely against Kiev.