An Interview With Jilea Hemmings
Verification of users. Most social networks platforms do not verify users, so you’re never sure if someone is real, an imposter or a bot. And with this reality, you lose confidence in believing or trusting their content. By installing mandatory verification, you can give your users confidence in the authenticity of their engagement which improves trust and safety.
In recent years, Big Tech has gotten a bad rep. But of course, many tech companies are doing important work making monumental positive changes to society, health, and the environment. To highlight these, we started a new interview series about “Technology Making An Important Positive Social Impact”. We are interviewing leaders of tech companies who are creating or have created a tech product that is helping to make a positive change in people’s lives or the environment. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing James Mawhinney.
James Mawhinney, CEO and founding ambassador of Media.com, is an accomplished Australian entrepreneur known for his ability to lead transformative business initiatives and navigate complex corporate landscapes that solve real-world problems. Passionate about large-scale initiatives with global impact, his journey exemplifies determination, innovation, and visionary leadership. Over his career, James has demonstrated a unique capacity for identifying opportunities, driving growth, and managing challenging business environments with resilience. With a career marked by cross-industry achievements, he combines practical philosophy with strategic business acumen to identify trends, overcome challenges, and transform ambitious ideas into reality.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory and how you grew up?
I was born in Western Australia and moved interstate twice by the age of 10. We moved around a lot with my dad’s work, so it forced me to learn how to adapt to different environments. My dad worked for one of the world’s leading technology companies at the time, IBM, so I was exposed to technology, computers, business, and the internet from a young age. My mum was an art teacher, which is where I think I got my creative (and patient) side. I was introduced to the business world from the very young age of three, often sitting in meetings my Dad had with work colleagues which meant business has almost always been in my blood.
The day I finished high school, at 17-years old, I had an opportunity to travel to Chicago and be taken under the wing of a technology entrepreneur who ran one of the world’s largest search engine technology companies. This experience gave me an invaluable background in large-scale, globally-focused technology businesses.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
In 2015, I decided to build out a global investment portfolio by putting my knowledge of the digital space, along with my education in law and corporate finance, to use. Over the next five years, my company raised a little over $250 million which enabled my business to make investments in 11 countries. We held investments in technology, real estate, credit, mining and other sectors, and employed around 70 staff. Then, in the blink of an eye, it was destroyed. A targeted attack involving media, competitors, Australia’s securities regulator, and a short-seller, led to the perfect storm that collapsed the business based on a very simple misunderstanding. It impacted thousands of people, and I have dedicated the past five years to clear my name. My life has since turned into a movie (and probably will be one day). For now, I’m focused on achieving the task at hand, which is to rebuild. One day my story will be told, and it will be sure to raise a few eyebrows, particularly when the culprits are identified. Watch this space!
None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
My dad ingrained a high-achiever mindset in me since I was a young boy. He excelled in leading large sales teams at IBM, and his success came from his discipline. As I grew up, I was always challenged to do the best I could across all facets of life, including academia, sports and right through to studying practical philosophy as a teenager. The opportunity I had to go to the U.S. in 2001, meet the founders of the world’s leading search engines (at a time when Google was yet to become number one), and become immersed on the internet when it was still in its infancy, would not have been possible but for him… and for him opening my eyes to doing business internationally from a young age. It has given me a truly global perspective both in the real world and online.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I used to have Steve Jobs’ quote, “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do,” printed up life-size on our office wall several years ago. I believe in this statement whole-heartedly. The mind is an incredible tool, and when it is applied to vision along with determination and discipline, you really can change the world.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Resiliency has gotten me to where I am today. I have survived one of the most extreme, devastating situations within which any business person could face. To have misinformation spread about you in the news and on social media is nearly impossible to contain or control…but it’s necessary to not let it stop you on your path.
My creativity has helped me identify opportunities others often overlook. To me, certain opportunities seem so obvious, yet it is only when I share my ideas with others that I start to appreciate my creative side.
I believe a thirst for knowledge is incredibly important. The world is evolving rapidly and knowing how to find information online is so incredibly important. I owe a lot of my growth and capabilities to always educating myself across a diverse range of topics relevant to what I want to achieve. It is incredibly satisfying and valuable to be able to put knowledge to use.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about the tech tools that you are helping to create that can make a positive social impact on our society. To begin, what problems are you aiming to solve?
Today, media runs parallel to our lives — it tells the stories of everyday living on social media, yet it has also become a force of polarization, skepticism, and fear, often leading to doubt and mistrust. We recently rolled out a beta version of a new social network called Media.com, which aims to counter online harms like misinformation, hate speech, and exploitation, while restoring trust in digital spaces. By fostering critical thinking, nuance, and open dialogue, Media.com is a safe platform for storytelling that bridges divides and strengthens humanity and community.
How do you think your technology can address this?
The unverified or optionally verified approach to social media profiles is common but certainly poses risks when paired with unfettered freedom of expression. A more liberalized content moderation approach combined with unverified sources can worsen the challenges of misinformation and harmful content on social networks.
The technology to address this exists today, including solutions already live on our network. By using trusted financial tech, Media.com allows users to verify the identity of content owners, promoting transparency and accountability. We believe this safeguard can coexist with free speech, creating an environment where both trusted content and open expression thrive. Every piece of content on our platform is traceable to its verified source, encouraging users to think before posting and ensuring the content’s origin is trustworthy.
While user verification enhances trust, unfortunately, it doesn’t guarantee accuracy or eliminate harm. That’s why content moderation is crucial. In 2025, Media.com will roll out a “three-check” flagging system that includes:
- Proactive detection of harmful, offensive, or inaccurate content
- Third-party fact-checking of certain stories
- User/community flags
Together with user verification, we believe these systems will build trust, safety, and content integrity, all while preserving free speech and human rights.
Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about this cause?
We know that in today’s world, media runs parallel to our lives — it tells the stories of everyday living on social media and gives anyone the ability to use online platforms to be who or whatever they want to be seen as, and use self-created profiles to share thoughts, opinions and have a global voice. But we also know that this access — and lack of mandatory author and content verification — has oftentimes fueled harmful content due to the proliferation of fake identities, profiles and bots.
While social media was initially intended to make communication and connection accessible, it has become what some have experienced as a place for spreading fake news and misinformation, all of which leads to skepticism, fear and mistrust. In the story I shared earlier, I fell victim to these impacts when incorrect information about me and my business was shared with the media. The spreading of this “fake news” ultimately created a firestorm of online stories and chatter disparaging my character and company. I felt like he had no voice, so I went to social media to share my side of the story. Unfortunately, what resulted was an onslaught of hate, ridicule and fake profiles pretending to be me, all of which made it worse. This onslaught has become a now five-year journey to defend myself and its negatively impacted businesses, employees, investors and even my young family.
So instead of being a place for communicating my truth, social media nearly destroyed me. But I wouldn’t let it, and my resiliency compelled me to create Media.com.
How do you think this might change the world?
Media.com is pioneering a much needed new global standard in trust and safety online, and we believe that in championing the importance of content being traceable to its source, we will become the trusted destination for personal and brand content creation. We also aim to shine a light on the importance of media literacy and its impact on all of us. Ultimately, we want to get to a place online where everyone values verification and authenticity; learns how to identify what content is safe online and what is not; and understands the power of personal narratives and how they impact the world by building bridges between people and cultures.
Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
Finding the balance between freedom of expression and human rights — and — creating a new digital standard for a safer social platform is our biggest, yet most important, challenge. We have and will continue to put all the right tools and systems in place to make our online community as safe as possible, however, we cannot fully remove the risk. This is why we strive to achieve a healthy balance between security and freedom online.
Based on your experience and success, can you please share “Five things you need to know to successfully create technology that can make a positive social impact”?
- Verification of users. Most social networks platforms do not verify users, so you’re never sure if someone is real, an imposter or a bot. And with this reality, you lose confidence in believing or trusting their content. By installing mandatory verification, you can give your users confidence in the authenticity of their engagement which improves trust and safety.
- Learn from the mistakes of others. The social networks have done an incredible job in amassing users; however, it is clear some mistakes have been made along the way. It is good practice to identify strengths and weaknesses of competitors and to fill the gaps, as this is where opportunities exist to have a positive impact on the lives of millions or even billions of people.
- Rallying around your mission. Ensuring every member of your team is committed to your mission is a powerful way to ensure your technology has a strong social impact. Being mission driven and purpose first, means it’s not enough to just have the skills and expertise. The secret sauce is the passion of the people that deeply care about the company’s mission and the knowledge to achieve the mission’s goals. Purpose-driven work means you inherently care about an issue and solving it, and seeing the bigger picture and the benefit of what your work means to the world is the ultimate reward.
- The Balance of human and machine. For trust and safety, finding the right balance of human monitoring and involvement, and machine learning technology is critical, especially knowing the value that each brings. While many feel that AI is consistently becoming a bigger part of the problem, it’s also part of the solution. You need human intelligence to understand those nuances. Companies need to put guardrails around how AI technology should be used, not just on what the tech can do.
- Enforcement of the policies. It’s not enough to have policies in place, you must have an operational plan on how to enforce them and make them part of the company ethos. We’ve seen social media companies over the past 15+ years have policies but not enforce them. We’ve often seen content appear on platforms that are not in line with their policies, and that’s because trust and safety was not built into product development. Unless it’s built in, you’re always going to be playing catch up in trying to enforce it.
If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?
Advocate. We are all connected in so many ways — particularly the role that businesses play in culture and on society — everything in our lives is connected. As such, I believe that companies and their employees have a profound responsibility -and ability — to lead by example and advocate on behalf of issues that matter.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
Top of my list is Mark Zuckerberg, as he’s achieved incredible things by putting his ideas into action, particularly with Meta, which has become one of the world’s most successful — if not the most successful — online ecosystems under his leadership. Zuckerberg understood the power of social media to influence, shape and change how the public views, consumers and shares information, and as founder of the new social network, Media.com, I’m inspired to see how creators harness our platform. Whilst there are some things I’m doing differently than Zuckerberg; I have a soft spot for what he has endured in the political and regulatory sphere because of my own experiences. Especially knowing that ultimately, he just wanted to build something that would be great for millions (and now billions) of people. I think we would find common ground on how good intentions can often be misunderstood through layers of bureaucracy. It is why entrepreneurs like Zuckerberg should be celebrated, not for their wealth, but for standing by their businesses, their beliefs and their customers.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Please go to Media.com and register for the platform. Verification is simple and fast, and once you’re in, you can set up your profile and start sharing, creating and connecting with others who value authenticity and digital integrity. Please also follow us on all other social platforms, which you can link to from your Media.com profile.
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational, and we wish you continued success in your important work.
Social Impact Tech: James Mawhinney On How Media.com Will Make An Important Positive Impact was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.