Australia

Taiwan’s top diplomat in Canberra has said Taipei stands by to offer Australia advice in tackling disinformation campaigns as the nation braces for a surge in conspiracy theories and fake news in the run up to the Federal election.

The Australian Electoral Commission has expanded its efforts to counter false or misleading information about the voting process, with a “Stop and Consider” campaign designed to help voters spot AI deep fakes and false rumours on the internet.

After spending years on the front lines against cyber-attacks and online propaganda campaigns, Taiwan has become a world leader in identifying and tackling disinformation and is already exchanging information with the UK and other European nations about its strategy.

The Taiwanese had developed a strong mechanism for independent fact-checking groups to work hand in hand with government ministries to quickly stamp out fake news, explained Douglas Hsu, Taiwan’s chief Representative to Australia, in an exclusive interview with The Nightly.

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Australia has banned DeepSeek from all government devices and systems over what it says is the security risk the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup poses.

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Growing - and familiar - concerns

Western countries have a track record of being suspicious of Chinese tech - notably telecoms firm Huawei and the social media platform, TikTok - both of which have been restricted on national security grounds.

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An Australian science minister previously said in January that countries needed to be "very careful" about DeepSeek, citing "data and privacy" concerns.

The chatbot was removed from app stores after its privacy policy was questioned in Italy. The Italian goverment previously temporarily blocked ChatGPT over privacy concerns in March 2023.

Regulators in South Korea, Ireland and France have all begun investigations into how DeepSeek handles user data, which it stores in servers in China.

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Generally, AI tools will analyse the prompts sent to them to improve their product.

This is true of apps such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini as much as it is DeepSeek.

All of them gather and keep information, including email addresses and dates of birth.

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Archived

The head of mining giant Rio Tinto has once again underlined his company’s commitment to renewables, but questions remain about the future of its giant smelters and refineries in Queensland after the new LNP state government put a halt to new wind farm approvals.

The decision by the Queensland LNP – first reported by Renew Economy last week – puts a pause on the approvals of four major wind projects in the state – including the 1.4 gigawatt Bungapan wind project that is essential to Rio’s plans to wean its energy intensive industries off its dependence on coal.

The decision by the Queensland LNP, which follows their refusal in opposition to endorse the previous Labor government’s renewable energy targets, has rattled many in the energy industry.

The state has the lowest share of renewables of any in the country, a situation that would have been unchanged even with Labor’s target of 80 per cent renewables by 2030, but the LNP intervention seems sure to make it even more of a laggard.

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If you're at all interested in etymology and Aussie slang, I found this to be a fascinating little read.

I recommend to check the channel out. Honestly we need more Aus content like this

So who does the Sydney birds?

Police charge man allegedly behind famous ‘Pam the Bird’ graffiti on Melbourne landmarks

Criminal charges bring alleged solo ‘Pam the Bird’ artist back to earth

You got two options here. So which one are you going to choose? hmmmm?

Why must our internet infrastructure be so fucked.

In short:

Dozens of people across Australia have shared their experiences of vitamin B6 toxicity with 7.30.

Terri-Lynne South, a GP and dietitian, says the number of cases is likely to be under-reported.

What's next:

The TGA says it is considering a proposal to tighten regulations, including changes to where and how B6 vitamins are sold.

We accept reports where people consider a business is doing something they shouldn’t. We use the reports to inform our education, compliance and enforcement work.

• When a business sells a product or service that doesn’t meet basic rights, known as consumer guarantees, it must offer the consumer a solution.
• Businesses must not tell consumers to take the problem to the manufacturer or importer.
• When a product has a major problem, consumers can choose between a refund or replacement.
• When a service has a major problem, consumers have a right to alter their agreement with the service provider.
• Businesses must fix a minor problem with a product or service by at least giving a free repair.

Apparently it’s legal to film peoples genitals without consent and share it online.

As usual, 26 January has been marked by protests, denunciations of those protests, and further iterations. Even apart from the fact that it marks an invasion, the foundation of a colony that later became one of Australia’s states isn’t much of a basis for a national day.

A worthy recipient of Australian of the year and a great warrior in the fight against the beast that is MND ( also known as ALS)

Speed kills. It’s the message that we’ve had driven home for decades by law enforcement and the government. But it’s time to have a serious discussion about speed limits in Australia without the hysterics and put some cold, hard facts into the debate.