There's been a heap of interest in Australia's teen social media ban, but a lot of confusion remains about how the law works, how it's being implemented and what we still don't know.
Here's my attempt to answer all your questions. (Did I miss something? Tell me!)
www.crikey.com.au/20...
I regret my decision to come to the age assurance preliminary trial findings event.
Lol there’s an email timestamped 0448 AEST saying the embargo has been lifted. So here’s a link to the Preliminary Findings of the Age Assurance Technology Trial (such as they are) from my Google Drive. drive.google.com/file/d/1xeOB...
(Couldn’t immediately see it on their site.)
A bill that sounds good but works as a weapon. The Take It Down Act won't make Big Tech work better—but will give Trump a lot of leverage over platforms.
Health alert Status: Active Alert number: 120225 Date 11 Feb 2025 - Update to alert issued 7 issued: February 2025 Issued by: Dr Tarun Weeramanthri, Chief Health Officer Issued to: Health professionals and the Victorian community Key messages • A new case of measles has been reported in Victoria. This is in addition to the measles case reported on 7 February 2025. • The case has recently returned from Pakistan. Growing outbreaks continue to be reported internationally including in Vietnam and Thailand. • Measles is a highly infectious viral illness that can spread from person-to-person and potentially lead to serious health complications. • This most recent case was infectious on Emirates flight EK 408 from Dubai to Melbourne, while at Melbourne Airport, and at Monash Children's hospital. This is in addition to multiple previously listed exposure sites across Melbourne.
Measles case Victoria
www.health.vic.gov.au/health-alert...
For people who don't understand what Stolen Generations refers to - under race-based policies, 100,00s of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander children were forcibly taken from their families, and trained to serve as unpaid labourers & domestic servitude. Aust government issued an apology in 2008
every year, more members of the Stolen Generations pass away without seeing any justice. We must build on the apology by demanding the other recommendations are actioned. We must respect members of the Stolen Generations by listening to their stories & prioritising their voices.
reminder to centre members of the Stolen Generations tomorrow (13/2). If you're a settler, no one needs to hear you politicise or twist the Apology. An apology that was a recommendation in Bringing Them Home report - it meant something to many who were stolen. So please, shut up & listen
BREAKING: We are suing DOGE and the Office of Personnel Management to stop the brazen and illegal data sharing of federal employee data with the “government efficiency” group.
Wild how the party of "protecting children" refuses to ban child marriage
Its almost as if
eSafety, leading the way on ethics and transparency 🙏
The global online safety groups that make up Meta's Safety Advisory Council have written a letter to the company protesting its recent content moderation changes, saying that the "policy shift risks prioritising political ideologies over global safety imperatives"
Our reporting in December on the eSafety Commissioner’s undeclared trip to Twiggy Forrest’s private AI conference has resulted in a flood of new disclosures
Six months later... Australia's eSafety commissioner puts a dollar figure on the hospitality she received from the Minderoo Foundation and Big Tech.
The government's flagship tech policy, the teen social media ban, went through some big last minute changes — like deciding what ages to ban — according to internal docs, interviews with sources and public docs, bolstering criticism that the law was "rushed through"
www.crikey.com.au/2025/01/29/t...
The feeling is very mutual 💖
when I feel despair about tech, I look to people who are actively working to build a different kind of internet - developing tools, making art, creating spaces and so on. people like: @kgt.bsky.social @quail.bsky.social @hipsterelectron.bsky.social @cuddlepunk.bsky.social @elizasorensen.bsky.social
I support people leaving insta but we shouldn't mistake individual decisions to bail for what we really need: a collective reckoning with the rotten system of techno-capitalism; to disentangle online life from the whims of tech billionaires. comments here from me-
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
This is separate from Taylor Lorenz' scoop today. At this point, "technical error" is Meta PR speak for "we got caught."
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01...
We are routinely bombarded with images of heterosexuality (kissing couples, marriage proposals, gender reveal parties) which are celebrated as “normal.” Meanwhile, when LGBTQ folk post content about ourselves, our lives are politicised as “ideological” or “sexual.” We must challenge this censorship.
2024 saw the launch of our revamped toolkit! Thanks to amazing Toolkit Maintainers and Guardians, you can find a database full of useful free-to-access tools. Complete with complexity ratings and clear descriptions, the toolkit is a one-stop shop for investigations. bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit
OpenAI is signaling an "attempt to dominate the market, not through superior technology, but by limiting competition through exclusivity deals, government contracts, and licensing requirements for advanced AI models."
The analogy Taylor Lorenz draws to the Visa network is fascinating.
