Tech News: 5 Things to Know in Australia Today

Tech News: 5 Things to Know in Australia Today

Good morning, hope you had a lovely weekend. Let’s jump into what happened in the tech world.

 

1. YouTube to stop removing some election misinformation

Google announced over the weekend that YouTube would stop removing content that might have spread false claims related to U.S. presidential elections in 2020 and before. “In the current environment, we find that while removing this content does curb some misinformation, it could also have the unintended effect of curtailing political speech without meaningfully reducing the risk of violence or other real-world harm,” the blog post reads. “With that in mind, and with 2024 campaigns well underway, we will stop removing content that advances false claims that widespread fraud, errors, or glitches occurred in the 2020 and other past U.S. Presidential elections. This goes into effect today”.

2. Apple’s VR/AR headset is apparently imminent

On Friday, Meta unveiled its Meta Quest 3 VR headset, which suspiciously landed a few days before the world is expecting Apple to drop its own VR/AR headset. With Apple holding its annual WWDC super early tomorrow morning, we should have all the details of its unnamed – and probably really boringly named – VR/AR headset by the time you wake up.

3. Bad time to be a Toyota customer

Over to How to Geek and they brought to our attention the fact Toyota has announced the discovery of another batch of exposed data resulting from what the company says is a “misconfiguration” of its connected cloud service, which provides internet features to Toyota vehicle owners such as vehicle information, in-car entertainment, and assistance in case of accidents or breakdowns. Per the report, the breach affects around 260,000 Toyota car owners. The company also said it found out about this breach while conducting a wider investigation after admitting, two weeks ago, to another data breach that’s been ongoing for a decade.

4. Disney gets a big write-off

Last week, Disney removed a little over 100 of its original programming from its streaming services such as Disney+ and Hulu around the world. That cut media, which includes the likes of Willow and Marvel’s Runaways, were axed after Disney gave a heads up about a week in advance and for seemingly for no real reason at all. Well, that’s not true — it all came down to money. According to an SEC filing from late Friday, Disney’s set to write off about $US1.5 billion following this streaming purge. Read more about it here.

5. Uber drivers allegedly self-surging

Lastly, Drive.com.au is reporting that a number of Uber drivers are gaming the ride-share platform’s sophisticated algorithms to create fake surge price periods, noting that as a result, they’re “becoming as dodgy as rogue taxi drivers”. The report explains that a handful of local Uber drivers provided the publication with detailed accounts of how operators are tricking the system to create fake surge price periods, and sending the cost of fares through the roof. It comes after the NSW government reached an agreement with Uber to stop surging from occurring when Sydney’s public transport inevitably falls over.

BONUS ITEM: Little dudes in business attire chasing a flying flower.

See you bright and early for Apple WWDC tomorrow!


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