Legal
Bruce Lehrmann fails in attempt to block Daily Mail reporter
Bruce Lehrmann has lost his bid for an interim restraining order against Daily Mail journalist Karleigh Smith, who he claims followed him around Tasmania while working on a story.
According to aap, the article in question, which ran earlier this month, tracked Lehrmann’s move to the Apple Isle.
His lawyer, Zali Burrows, told the Hobart magistrates court that Smith and a photographer tailed Lehrmann on a dirt road “dangerously,” arguing the episode not only crossed a line professionally but worsened her client’s mental health.
John Torode out at MasterChef after racism allegation upheld
John Torode’s MasterChef days are officially done, with producers confirming his contract won’t be renewed following an allegation he used racist language, an accusation he denies.
The Aussie-born chef had earlier revealed he was part of the same external investigation that found misconduct claims against co-host Gregg Wallace.
But, as Nadeem Badshah and Michael Savage report in The Guardian, that review, run by law firm Lewis Silkin on behalf of production company Banijay UK, upheld a 2018 complaint about Torode’s alleged use of “highly offensive” language.
AI
Meta blunder costs Pilates brand after dog video flagged as child exploitation
In a bizarre AI misfire, Meta suspended a Gold Coast business owner’s Instagram accounts after wrongly flagging a dog video as child exploitation.
Rochelle Marinato, who runs Pilates World, says the takedown hit both her personal and business profiles, despite the clip in question simply showing three dogs looking out a window.
But as Lauren Forbes reports for Sky News Australia, the image didn’t feature any humans, giving zero context for the ban.
X faces fresh scrutiny as Grok chatbot goes full MechaHitler
Things got weird fast in the tribunal showdown between Elon Musk’s X and Australia’s eSafety commissioner, with expert witnesses weighing in on whether Grok, the in-house chatbot that recently dubbed itself MechaHitler, is generating content that qualifies as violent extremism or even terrorism.
As Josh Taylor writes in The Guardian Australia, the comments, which ran unchecked for 16 hours, were traced back to what xAI called “deprecated code” overly influenced by user posts.
X is challenging a 2023 notice from Julie Inman Grant’s office demanding answers on how the platform handles terrorism and violent extremism material.
WeTransfer clears the air on AI clause after backlash from creatives
WeTransfer has moved to calm a social media storm after users accused the file-sharing platform of sneaking AI training rights into its terms of service.
As Imran Rahman-Jones reports on the BBC, creatives were quick to raise the alarm, interpreting vague legal language as giving WeTransfer the green light to use their files to train machine learning models.
The company has now clarified it does not use AI to process or train on user files, nor does it sell data to third parties.
Social Media
Minister stays quiet on TikTok lobby meeting as YouTube for kids ban talk swirls
Communications Minister Anika Wells is staying tight-lipped about a behind-closed-doors meeting between her staff and TikTok-linked lobbyists, refusing to confirm who was in the room or what was discussed.
The meeting, described as “introductory,” took place shortly after Wells stepped into the portfolio, and not long before reports surfaced suggesting YouTube for kids might be facing a ban, a move long pushed by TikTok.
As Oscar Godsell writes on Sky News Australia, while TikTok has been banned from government devices due to national security concerns, Wells’ office defended taking the meeting, calling the platform a “key stakeholder” in shaping social media safety legislation.
Technology
Bunnings pushes for facial recognition laws after privacy blowback
Bunnings boss Michael Schneider is calling for an overhaul of Australia’s privacy laws to let retailers legally use facial recognition tech in stores.
As Tess Bennett writes in The Australian Financial Review, in a new submission to the Productivity Commission, Schneider argues the tech is essential for curbing retail crime and protecting staff, especially as incidents of aggression and theft continue to rise.
The push follows a ruling by Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind, who found Bunnings had breached privacy laws by using facial recognition without customer consent between 2018 and 2021.
Google trims news deals as media code stalls
Google is back at the bargaining table with Australian publishers, quietly signing a fresh round of one-year content deals , but this time, the cheques are smaller.
According to John Buckley in Capital Brief, Schwartz Media, Mamamia, ACM, Crikey’s Private Media and Junkee are among those who’ve inked new agreements, though several publishers have reportedly seen the dollar figures shrink.
The move comes as the Albanese government continues to drag its feet on updating the News Media Bargaining Code, the legislation designed to force tech giants to pay for journalism.
Retail
Country Road exits stores and stalls hiring as retail pain deepens
Country Road Group is feeling the crunch.
The fashion retailer is still sitting on more than 50 unfilled roles at its Melbourne HQ and quietly packing up shop in key locations like Sydney’s QVB and Melbourne’s Armadale.
As Eli Greenblat and Ben Wilmot write in The Australian, the company’s flagship Pitt Street Mall is also on the chopping block once the lease wraps in 2028.