Today
Revenue falls at Google’s Australian operations
The Australian arm of the $3 trillion tech giant reported lower revenue in 2024. It made less from selling ads and cloud services.
Yesterday
Labor polishes its secret weapons to win the west
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has two secret weapons in the key battleground state of Western Australia: its so-called “State Daddies”.
April
Young men are leaning right, but not necessarily to Dutton
Trump swept to power after winning over a new generation of young men. Peter Dutton has his work cut out for him if he hopes to follow the president’s lead.
Want to know where the election will be won or lost? Follow the money
Peter Dutton says Labor’s bid to win his seat is just a stunt, but targeted ad spending suggests something different. Here’s what else the money is telling us.
Shein’s Australian sales top $1b in online fast-fashion surge
Revenues at the Singapore-headquartered ultra-cheap goods retailer soar 25 per cent over the last year as local rivals struggle in a cost-of-living crunch.
TikTok, Meta, Snapchat demand answers on YouTube ‘sweetheart deal’
The tech giants say Michelle Rowland’s unexplained favouritism towards Google’s video platform undermines new social media age restriction laws.
What trade war? Netflix posts record profit
Price increases and healthy subscriber growth pushed Netflix’s earnings up by 24 per cent in the first quarter.
Google operates illegal ad monopoly, judge rules
The US federal court’s decision increases the possibility of the tech giant being forced to sell some of its assets.
YouTube exemption exposes teen social media ban as a sham
The government’s preferential treatment of YouTube undermines the purpose of its under-16s social media ban, and is unfair to the other tech industry players.
Rowland gave YouTube a personal exemption guarantee from social ban
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland wrote to YouTube’s global chief to reassure him the platform would not be covered by a contentious social media ban.
Mark Zuckerberg takes stand to defend Meta against antitrust suit
The US government has contended that Meta illegally cemented a social media monopoly by acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp when they were tiny start-ups.
Singing in English a ‘blessing and curse’ for Oz music: Grammy boss
The president of the Recording Academy says singing in English can be a disadvantage outside America – but Australia’s music industry can conquer it.
March
Labor’s latest excuse for YouTube ban exemption
New documents reveal a third reason the Albanese government has exempted YouTube from its social media ban for people under 16: “Broad community sentiment.”
Under fire Facebook returns to its roots: Showing posts from friends
After years of pushing suggested content to users, Facebook has now added a separate news feed featuring posts shared only by people’s friends and family.
The Australian YouTuber who turned down a $30m payday at 19
Jordan Barclay is building what he describes as the media company of the future. Traditional media board directors call him for advice.
‘Irrational and indefensible’ YouTube call was government’s alone
The Albanese government announced YouTube would be exempt from its social media ban without seeking mandatory advice from its eSafety Commissioner.
Donald Trump jnr cashes in on the MAGA economy
ESG and DEI are out as the US president’s son makes lucrative investments that align with his father’s vision of America.
Google Gemini linked to AI-generated deepfake porn, terrorist content
Google’s users have reported its Gemini bot is being used to create deepfake child pornography as well as terrorist material.
Big tech slams ‘sweetheart deal’ for YouTube in social ban
The tech giants say carving out YouTube from a ban on social media for people under 16 would be like banning soft drinks for children but allowing Coca-Cola.
February
YouTube’s social media ban exemption under fire as rivals seethe
The Department of Communications met with Meta, Snap and TikTok to discuss how they’re supposed to age-restrict their platforms, while their rival remains exempt.