Hello, how are you? We’ve got some tech news for you.
1. Binance pays $2M penalty in Australia
Cryptocurrency exchange Investbybit Pty Ltd, trading as Binance Australia, has paid an infringement notice of $2 million as part of the ACMA’s ongoing crackdown on spam. An ACMA investigation found Binance Australia sent over 5.7 million commercial emails that either made it difficult for consumers to opt-out by requiring them to log into an account or didn’t contain a way to unsubscribe. The ACMA also found that Binance sent 25 emails without the consent of the recipients. Binance is the largest global crypto exchange and has not been without issues this week.
2. TPG Telecom discloses hosted Exchange breach
iTnews is reporting that TPG Telecom has disclosed a breach of hosted Exchange services that run email accounts for up to 15,000 iiNet and Westnet business customers. The report notes that TPG said that Mandiant had “found evidence of unauthorised access” on December 13 and that the target appeared to be “crypocurrency and financial information” contained within accounts. TPG Telecom said it had notified “relevant government authorities”.
3. Today on Elon.com
Twitter co-founder and ex-CEO Jack Dorsey has not had it easy the past few weeks. After being hounded on the internet by mobs of Elon Musk fans wanting his blood for what’s been presented in the so-called “Twitter Files,” Dorsey finally came out late Tuesday not to apologise for banning former President Donald Trump, but to apologise for ever even creating moderation tools in the first place. Elsewhere, Twitter has banned @ElonJet, the popular bot account that tracked Musk’s plane, days after the account’s owner accused the social media platform of shadowbanning it.
4. TikTok goes horizontal
TikTok, the short video platform that is known for making you record all footage vertically, is testing a new horizontal full-screen mode with select users globally. Per a report from TechCrunch, users who have access to the test feature will see a new “full screen” button appear on square or rectangle videos in their feed, which will then shift the screen into a horizontal full-screen mode. It’s yet another way TikTok is moving in on YouTube.
5. YouTube will tell you if you’re being mean
Over on YouTube, the Google-owned platform wants you to stop being mean. As YouTube comments continue to serve as a place to harbour negativity and bad tempers, the platform is rolling out a way to let you know if your comment is too rude. YouTube announced that the video-sharing platform will soon ping you if a comment you left on a video is deemed too abusive based on the website’s community guidelines. If a user receives a notification and continues to post abusive comments, YouTube will muzzle them with a ban from commenting for 24 hours.
BONUS ITEM: Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison yesterday faced questioning during the Robodebt Royal Commission. This was the key takeaway from many tuning in.
They day Morrison leaves parliament should be made a public holiday.
Happy “Thank F He’s Gone Day”
— Greg Jericho (@GrogsGamut) December 14, 2022
See you tomorrow.