Yesterday
Meta sacks staff for abusing $37 meal credits
Some workers had been pooling their money together, while others were getting meals sent home even though the credits are intended for the office.
- Hannah Murphy and Stephen Morris
This Month
Meta’s AI lets you talk to Judi Dench, but it won’t tell how to vote
Actors Kristen Bell, Judi Dench and John Cena are among the first batch of celebrities to license their voices to Meta’s new AI virtual assistant.
- Tess Bennett
Social media penalties ‘must include big fines’
Tech companies should face multimillion-dollar fines for failing to enforce laws restricting social media access for children, the South Australian premier says.
- Tess Bennett
Inside the bro-ification of Mark Zuckerberg
The Meta founder has quietly remade his public image, attracting the same generation of start-up guys who once idolised Elon Musk.
- Nitasha Tiku and Naomi Nix
Once the future of the internet, the metaverse is largely empty
Two years ago, the world’s biggest brands couldn’t get enough of virtual worlds. Now, only the most hardcore users are left.
- Tess Bennett and Rachael Bolton
Labor defector Payman’s political party launch days away
Sources familiar with Senator Payman’s thinking said Anthony Albanese’s threat of a double dissolution election meant she needed to move swiftly.
- Ronald Mizen
- Explainer
- Social media
Everything you need to know about Labor’s misinformation crackdown
More than 75 per cent of people believe addressing the deliberate spread of misinformation online is extremely important or quite important. On how you achieve that goal, the country is far more divided.
- Ronald Mizen
September
Tabcorp’s youth bookmaker has its own viral star
An Instagram influencer spends thousands of dollars placing short-priced bets. But who’s funding him?
- Mark Di Stefano
Meta stock bulls look for next rally catalyst
Meta’s annual Connect conference kicks off this week, with industry buzz around the latest technology reveal and updated by chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.
- Carmen Reinicke
Death toll mounts in Central Europe floods
The flooding has swamped parts of Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania as a low-pressure system crossing the region has unleashed record-high rains.
- Karel Janicek and Monika Scislowska
- Analysis
- US election
The truth behind Trump’s pet-eating conspiracy theory
Donald Trump is using the wild accusation that asylum seekers are abducting and eating pets to argue his return to the presidency is needed to fix a “failing nation”.
- Jim Norton
Investors have forgotten the lessons of the dotcom crash
MSCI’s head of research Ashley Lester has some thoughts on what many analysts have warned is the next bubble: the rapid rise in US tech valuations.
- Joshua Peach
- Opinion
- US Votes 2024
Why Trump says immigrants are eating cats and dogs
In the US presidential debate, Donald Trump repeated a bizarre and false claim circulating in right-wing circles on social media.
- Rachael Bolton
Social media bosses face jail if they fail to stop revenge porn
Britain is introducing tough new online safety laws that could see social media bosses punished for allowing deep fakes and revenge porn to be shared.
- Charles Hymas
- Exclusive
- Social media
Tech giants in firing line to pay for swath of new online laws
The Albanese government is introducing new laws to curb the harms caused by social media giants, and is also looking at how to make them pay for it.
- Ronald Mizen
- Analysis
- Tech crackdown
‘Daylight robbery:’ Canberra needs EU muscle to land big tech blow
The government wants to work cooperatively with tech moguls such as Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, but that seems like wishful thinking, and tougher laws are coming.
- Paul Smith
How these parents keep their kids off social media
From “rubbish” phones to smartwatches and screen time bans, executives are trying to find ways to keep their kids off social media while still being able to be in touch.
- Tess Bennett
‘Fundamental strategic error’ in plan to ban teens from social media
Tech industry leaders say age restrictions on social media are urgently needed, but that the government is letting Meta and Snapchat skirt responsibility.
- Paul Smith
US prepares to challenge Google’s online ad dominance
The trial is the latest salvo by federal regulators against Big Tech, testing a century-old law against companies that have reshaped the way people consume.
- David McCabe
Ukraine’s new foreign minister Is Zelensky’s latest power play
Ukraine’s new foreign minister has cultivated deep contacts in NATO states during postings to Ankara and Warsaw. He’s also close to Ukraine’s wartime power centre.
- Volodymyr Verbianyi and Natalia Ojewska
