Good morning. Happy Valentine’s Day to those who observe and a happy Tuesday to those who don’t. Let’s get stuck in.
1. Romance scam warnings
The ACCC has asked Aussies to “have a heart-to-heart with their friends and family members” this Valentine’s Day, hoping to help protect their loved ones from the heartache caused by scams. It comes as the ACCC’s Scamwatch revealed more than $40 million was lost to romance scams in 2022. According to the data, there were 3,698 reports of romance scams made to Scamwatch in 2022, with almost half of these reports involving scammers with fake profiles contacting their victims via mobile apps and social networking platforms.
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Valentine’s scammers,
Might be coming for you,
Always saying nice things,
Could start with a text,
If they’re asking for money,
Stop, Check and Reject.— CommBank (@CommBank) February 12, 2023
2. TikTok considers paywalling content
The Information is reporting that TikTok is working on a bunch of new features to boost usage and expand its older audiences. With that story behind a paywall, The Verge has explained that among the features in the works is a paywall, which would allow creators to set a price on their content that viewers would pay before watching. Also on the cards, the report notes, is a revamped creator fund.
3. 47 cyber incident reports under new law
Australia’s critical infrastructure laws have been in place now for nine months, requiring those labelled as ‘critical infrastructure’ (such as telcos and banks) to report on information security events to the ACSC. Since their inception, the laws have been quite an issue of contention, with many criticising the legislation for a range of reasons. Regardless, we’re now nine months in and per a report from iTnews, we learn that the government’s Cyber and Infrastructure Security Centre (CISC) fielded 47 cyber incident reports from critical infrastructure providers in this time. It’s not known what these incidents were, but they were enough to warrant a report.
4. Super Bowl attack ad
Although the Super Bowl is done and dusted for another year, the absurd amount of money spent on commercials means the ads live on past the big game. While Super Bowl LVII gave us a handful of thoroughly entertaining commercials, one in particular has been copping a lot of attention. The ad showed a Tesla slamming into two child-sized mannequins and hitting a stroller. The 30-second ad was created by The Dawn Project, an organisation Business Insider explains as campaigning to ban what it calls “unsafe software”.
5. Google to expand misinformation ‘pre-bunking’ campaign
Google plans to expand a campaign against online misinformation to Germany this week, and later India, as first reported by the Associated Press. The strategy, known as “pre-bunking” or “attitudinal inoculation,” aims to train people on how to recognise false information and manipulated facts on the internet before they even encounter them. In short videos and photos — shown across platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook in standard advertising slots — Google will continue its push to make pre-bunking a go-to method for dispelling disinformation. Read more about it over here.
BONUS ITEM: We see you, Mr Musk.
Dogecoin
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 13, 2023
Have a great day.