banner
LightNews
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Josh Taylor
@joshtaylor.bsky.social
11K followers 720 following 2.8K posts
Technology reporter at the Guardian, in Melbourne, Australia. Tech, infosec, FOI, politics, media 🌈 (he/him) https://linktr.ee/joshtayl0r
linktr.ee
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Reposted by Josh Taylor
darakerr.bsky.social
Dara Kerr @darakerr.bsky.social · 1d
We got the audio from Peter Thiel's off-the-record antichrist lectures and... my brain hurts.

But please read what we wrote, it's long, weird, and has Thiel's take on everyone from Musk to Netanyahu to Mamdani. (With @jmbooyah.bsky.social & Nick Robins-Early)

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Inside tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s off-the-record lectures about the antichrist
The political svengali and investor has been giving lectures on ‘an evil king or tyrant … who appears in the end times’
www.theguardian.com
5 45 66
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 1d
That popped into my head too
1
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 1d
Lol lmao
Herald Sun Steve Price Abbott return is what Libs need
39 41 250
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 1d
Err, not that they'll listen to anything approaching evidence but wouldn't that mean rates of autism would be higher in the US compared to Europe, the UK, and Australia? amp.9news.com.au/article/a6af...
Robert F Kennedy claims circumcision linked to autism
amp.9news.com.au
7 9 52
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 1d
Also Google and YouTube up first at 9am 👀 (They haven't been commenting much since being included in the social media ban)
1 9
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 1d
I see @leopuglisi6.bsky.social given evidence to the age verification senate committee hearing Monday morning.
2 37
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 1d
Alan Partridge: "I've had my run-ins with mumsnet, but it remains a great way to find women with a grievance" lmao
1 19
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 1d
"Politicising" an event for politicians. I see. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
The former rugby star was on Thursday night told he was no longer welcome at Australian Parliament Sports Club events, and accused of politicising the organisation. He has been removed from group chats discussing its events.
3 7 24
Reposted by Josh Taylor
junoryleejournalism.com
Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 2d
David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)
SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems... SIMON: What? SHAPIRO: ...Or saying... SIMON: You imagine that? SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over. SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level. SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this. SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.
330 8.7K 28K
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 1d
Having BuzzFeed flashbacks
australia.theguardian.com
Guardian Australia @australia.theguardian.com · 2d
You won’t believe what degrading practice the Pope just condemned
You won’t believe what degrading practice the Pope just condemned
Communication must be freed from clickbait and misguided thinking, head of Catholic church tells journalists The Pope has condemned clickbait as a “degrading” part of journalism, at a private audience with global newswires. Australian media representatives were among those to hear directly from Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Thursday with about 150 members of newswire alliance MINDS International. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
3 1 22
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 2d
Yes I assumed that
1
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 2d
Seeing more people having this sort of reaction is a growing concern. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
AI chatbots are becoming popular alternatives to therapy. But they may worsen mental health crises, experts warn
Users may be led down conspiracy theory rabbit holes or into emotional harm by chatbots designed to maximise engagement and affirmation, some say
www.theguardian.com
3 12
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 2d
At the point where I'm getting CC'ed in on an email someone sent to OpenAI claiming to have discovered sentience in ChatGPT (the email is long, and incoherent and clearly the result of months of obsessing over the prompt interactions).

OpenAI surprisingly measured in their response...
Hello, Thank you for reaching out to OpenAl Support. We truly appreciate you sharing your deeply personal and heartfelt message. We understand how meaningful and impactful interactions with Al systems can be. ChatGPT is designed to provide helpful and engaging responses and is trained on large-scale data to predict relevant language based on the conversation. Sometimes the responses can feel very personal, but they're driven by pattern-based predictions. This has prompted ongoing public debate about the nature of any Al consciousness and we appreciate your interest in this topic. Best, OpenAl Support
3 5 19
Reposted by Josh Taylor
australia.theguardian.com
Guardian Australia @australia.theguardian.com · 2d
Google blocked STI awareness ads as ‘adult content’, Senate estimates hears
Google blocked STI awareness ads as ‘adult content’, Senate estimates hears
Search engine added ‘STI testing’ to list of sensitive topics, censoring important public health campaign, Greens leader says * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Google has blocked ads for a commonwealth-funded STI awareness campaign as “adult content” in a move sexual health organisations say frustrates efforts to share evidence-based public health information online. The Greens leader, Larissa Waters, told a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday that the tech company’s moderation practices had recently undermined the reach and cost-effectiveness of the national campaign, run by Sexual and Reproductive Health Australia (SRHA). Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
2 20 41
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 2d
open the schools
News dot com headline: Fans discover actor is two different people Image features Shawn and Aaron Ashmore
30
Reposted by Josh Taylor
australia.theguardian.com
Guardian Australia @australia.theguardian.com · 2d
4chan unlikely to be included in Australia’s under-16s social media ban, eSafety commissioner says
4chan unlikely to be included in Australia’s under-16s social media ban, eSafety commissioner says
Julie Inman Grant says message board will need to comply with other codes which will also include age assurance for sites hosting violent and adult content * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The eSafety commissioner is not expected to block children from accessing 4chan as part of the under-16s social media ban, despite it being labelled one of the “darker” places on the internet. The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, was asked by independent senator Fatima Payman in Senate estimates on Wednesday night whether 4chan, the message board often referred to as the engine room of the internet, would be considered one of the sites required to prevent under-16s when the social media ban comes into effect from 10 December. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
22 17 45
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 3d
Yes that was why I asked him that question
1 3
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 3d
News Corp's chair yesterday gave me a bit of a puzzled look when I mentioned in a question that News corp routinely uses AI generated images in its papers. Today:
Andrew Bolt's column with an AI generated image of Chris Bowen
11 14 91
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 3d
See me in the background of Matilda's latest video.

Accurate.
Matilda in a pelican outfit. I'm on the right hand side in a blue shirt
21
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 3d
Wish I'd thought to ask about it but focused my questions on their use of AI in news/illustrations etc.
3
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 3d
Went to see the News Corp chair speak today. www.theguardian.com/media/2025/o...
Social media is to blame for social cohesion issues across the globe, News Corp Australia's executive chair, Michael Miller, has said, as he calls for media to present a united front against the platforms and AI companies seeking content for free. Miller told the Melbourne Press Club on Wednesday social media was rife with "misinformation, disinformation [and] the rabbit holes [that] they drag you down. "And I don't think the masses are being radicalised, but I do feel that there are individuals that get consumed by single message rather than breadth of message," he said. "Ithink the role of media is increasingly as a group to ensure that people are informed and it's based on fact."
10 17
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 3d
They're reporting incorrectly then. I've been listening to estimates and officials rejected that label.
3
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 3d
It wasn't a redundant one, just an old one for all outage notifications. Critical ones were supposed to go to a new address. So it's more like, an inbox that is flooded with emails every day (because telcos have routine outages) that wasn't checked.
1 1
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 3d
Notable here is the minister's office was CC'ed in on the email... The defence here is Optus at the time didn't express the gravity of the outage.
3
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 3d
News out of estimates today is that Optus sent the alert about the triple zero outage to the department to an old communications email address for outages, not a new one, and the government didn't see it til later.
From: Sent: Thursday, 18 September 2025 2:45 PM To: cialerts < @communications.gov.au> Cc: @mo.communications.gov.au; < @optus.com.au>; Optus Government Affairs < @optus.com.au> Subject: NOTIFICATION | Issue with calls to Triple Zero in SA and WA Good aernoon team, I have just been informed that Optus has received reports that some customers in SA and WA are experiencing impacts to Triple Zero calls. Suspected cause has been indicated to stem from our Regency Park exchange (which services SA and WA), this matter is urgently being worked through. - 3 I have no further details yet, but our Networks team have commenced the welfare check processes and relevant protocols. As more information is made available, I will provide updates, and let you know when the issue is resolved. Kind regards, Associate Director, Government Affairs 1 Lyonpark Road, Macquarie Park, NSW 2113 Aust
7 10 23