Australia launches world-first crackdown on ‘deepfake’ porn

Tech giants including Apple, Google and Meta will be forced to do more to tackle online child sexual abuse material and pro-terror content, including “deepfake” child pornography created using generative AI, in world-first industry standards laid out by Australia’s eSafety Commissioner.

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auDA Chair from 2000 to 2015 Tony Staley Dies

Highly regarded auDA Chair from 2000 to 2015 Tony Staley passed away this week, aged 83. Staley came to prominence as a “hard man” in Australia’s conservative Liberal Party, and as Minister for Posts and Telecommunications in late 1977 until he left politics at the general election in 1980. He was also Federal President of the Liberal Party from 1993 until 1999.

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auDA Launches RFT For .AU Backend Registry

auDA has released a Request for Tender (RFT) for a backend registry operator for the .au ccTLD and the 4.2 million domain names under management.

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Influencer crackdown in full swing as Australian regulator sweeps social media for hidden ads, undeclared sponsored posts

More than 100 social media influencers are already in the sights of Australia’s consumer watchdog, amid a crackdown on undisclosed advertising and other misleading digital content.

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Even Retired Cricketers Get Their .AU

The long overdue launch of .au second level domains has been a success to date with over 700,000 registered as of the end of November 2022. And even retired Australian cricketers are getting in on the act. Listening to the ABC Radio cricket commentary today during coverage of the Australia v South Africa test match, former Australian players Shane Watson and Glenn McGrath were discussing Watson’s self-published book Winning the Inner Battle where Watson made reference to it only being available from shanewatson.au. Watson also has the .com.au domain, but it redirects to the .au.

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Australia’s e-safety commissioner issues legal notices to Apple, Meta and Microsoft

Australian authorities have issued leading online platforms with legal documents ordering them to disclose how they are addressing the proliferation of child sexual exploitation material.

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Google wins defamation battle as Australia’s high court finds tech giant not a publisher

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Australia’s highest court has ruled Google is not a publisher of the websites it links to in search results, finding search engine hyperlinks do not amount to publication.

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Australia’s central bank launches digital currency project

Australia’s central bank on Tuesday said it was launching a one-year research programme into the case for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in Australia, focusing on what potential economic benefits it might bring.

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InternetNZ’s Former CEO Jordan Carter Joins auDA as Internet Governance and Policy Director

In a surprise announcement, auDA today announced Jordan Carter, until a few months ago InternetNZ’s Chief Executive, will be crossing the ditch to join auDA in the newly created role of Internet Governance and Policy Director, from 13 July.

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Hidden costs, manipulation, forced continuity: report reveals how Australian consumers are being duped online

Australian consumers’ choices on websites and apps are being manipulated through online designs taking advantage of their weaknesses. That’s according to research on consumers’ online experiences and the presentation of websites and apps, released today by the Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC).

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