Yesterday
‘Coldplaygate’ shows morality police are taking over the internet
With cameras always rolling, regular people increasingly find themselves the focus of public shame campaigns.
This Month
Meta trial on privacy scandal begins with tech, politics A-list
The Facebook owner was willing to pay billions of dollars to settle allegations but would not accept a settlement that held founder Mark Zuckerberg responsible.
Rise of the ‘transvestigators’ who think Michelle Obama is a man
The online right is lost inside an “emasculation fetish”, where the children aren’t children, wives aren’t wives and, above all, men aren’t men.
Another day, another chatbot spouting Nazi propaganda
A recent antisemitic rant by X’s in-house AI bot Grok gave a glimpse of deeper problems with large language models and understanding what these devices really are.
‘Riding the tiger’: Why Linda Yaccarino had to leave Elon Musk’s X
Tasked with bringing back advertising to a platform whose owner had told brands who did not spend with them to “go f--- themselves”, she was set up to fail.
The 4 young Aussie YouTubers who are more watched than MrBeast
A YouTube account called Double Date has quietly become one of the biggest creators in the world. For the past 12 weeks, they’ve been among the top three.
Husic urges digital crackdown on hate speech
The former industry minister says artificial intelligence is a “bad bet” to solve Islamophobia and antisemitism.
Antisemitism envoy calls for powers to strip universities of funding
Academics and protesters to be targeted by tougher penalties for hate speech in new plan to combat antisemitism.
Yaccarino stepping down as CEO of Musk’s X
The chief executive of the social media platform is stepping down less than three months after it was absorbed by Musk’s artificial intelligence start-up.
YouTube unleashes its creators in war over social media ban
Google has put its Australian YouTubers on notice: a hike in the minimum age to access social media could hurt your channel if the government includes YouTube.
Asian tourists are avoiding Japan. The reason might surprise you
A viral manga prophecy predicting a massive earthquake on July 5 has led to slashed flights and emptied Mount Fuji trails – rattling the tourism industry.
How Mark Zuckerberg unleashed his inner brawler
The Meta boss’s transformation shocked liberals at the company, but his closest allies say this is who he was all along.
‘I have cancer,’ the TikTok star said. Then the trolls piled on
Sydney Towle has an enormous and supportive audience on the video platform. But on Reddit, an army of sceptics was determined to paint her as a fraud.
June
Labor says making big tech pay for news is a ‘key priority’
Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino says a plan for new charges will come soon, setting his government on a collision course with Donald Trump.
Reddit vows to stay human to emerge a winner from AI
As the platform becomes an increasingly important source for LLMs, advertisers are responding with what one agency chief described as a “massive migration”.
Liberal Party social media accounts turn pornographic
The photos were posted as a result of a hack. They are still some of the only times women have featured on its social media pages.
Lattouf’s win over the ABC is a wake-up call for every employer
During a period of global turmoil, the Federal Court has held that workers are protected over controversial political opinions. But the fight may have only just begun.
Catalano’s ‘aggressive’ Byron Bay parking saga plays out on Facebook
Locals took to a Byron Bay community group page to vent about one of their many resident multimillionaires.
YouTube blasts eSafety Commissioner, says exemption should stay
The online video giant released a statement calling the eSafety Commissioner’s advice “contradictory” minutes before the commissioner took the stage for a speech.
Labor backflip will add YouTube to social media ban for kids
A carve-out for the video platform will be axed after the eSafety commissioner found it was the most likely place for children to see harmful material online.