Tom Williams, tech journo 👨‍💻
@its-tom-williams.bsky.social
370 followers 510 following 260 posts
Technology journalist at @information-age.bsky.social 💻 Formerly at ABC News (Australia). Got a tip? [email protected]
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Reposted by Tom Williams, tech journo 👨‍💻
esqueer.net
It's now considered controversial to fight the KKK in a video game.
Alt text: A tweet from DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) reads: “Ubisoft canceled an ‘ASSASSINS CREED’ game set in the post–Civil War era. • Featured a Black Assassin who was formerly a slave • Players would fight the emerging KKK • Leadership canceled it after concerns with U.S. political climate & Yasuke backlash.” The source link is listed as “gamefile.news/p/scoop-ubisof…”. Below the text are two images side by side: on the left, a hooded Assassin in white and red armor from the Assassin’s Creed series; on the right, the red Assassin’s Creed logo on a plain background. The tweet was posted at 4:11 PM on October 8, 2025, and has 665.8K views.
its-tom-williams.bsky.social
New: Australian scientist Richard Robson (from @unimelb.bsky.social) and a group of international quantum researchers have been awarded Nobel Prizes for their work at the cutting edge of chemistry and physics, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has announced. 👏
Australian scientist, quantum researchers win Nobel Prizes
Pioneers celebrated for major advances in their fields.
ia.acs.org.au
its-tom-williams.bsky.social
New from me: Police investigations are underway after emails which initially appeared to have been sent by @westernsydneyu.bsky.social claimed students’ qualifications had been revoked, that more of their personal data had been stolen, and cybersecurity gaps had been left unpatched.
Fake emails spark cybersecurity fears at Western Sydney Uni
Messages claimed degrees were 'revoked', security gaps left exposed.
ia.acs.org.au
Reposted by Tom Williams, tech journo 👨‍💻
information-age.bsky.social
Telstra has been handed an $18 million fine and ordered to pay back affected consumers after moving thousands of customers of its lower cost brand Belong to a slower NBN plan without informing them.

Read more: ia.acs.org.au/article/2025...
Telstra fined $18m for secret Belong NBN speed drop
Telco giant says 'sorry' for not informing customers.
ia.acs.org.au
its-tom-williams.bsky.social
New from me: Two Queenslanders have won a legal battle against Samsung Electronics Australia after they were refused a refund when a smartwatch they purchased allegedly did not live up to the company’s advertised battery life.

h/t @cameronwilson.bsky.social / @thesizzle.com.au for noting the case!
Aussies win legal battle over Samsung watch battery claim
Two Queenslanders successfully challenge Korean tech giant.
ia.acs.org.au
its-tom-williams.bsky.social
The committee's Chair said OpenAI had been invited to appear at Tuesday’s hearing but did not respond to its request.

The Tech Council of Australia, which represents members such as Google, OpenAI and Microsoft, allegedly told the committee it did not have any representatives available to appear. 👇
information-age.bsky.social
Australian creatives should be properly compensated when their copyrighted works are used to train artificial intelligence models, prominent musicians, writers, and industry groups told a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday.

Read more: ia.acs.org.au/article/2025...
'Wholesale theft': Aussie creatives slam AI data mining
Musicians, writers voice copyright concerns to Senate committee.
ia.acs.org.au
Reposted by Tom Williams, tech journo 👨‍💻
joshtaylor.bsky.social
how long are we off a raybans exploding midflight type story
dandouglas.bsky.social
SMART RING: [rapidly constricting bone and cutting off blood supply] bleep bloop i’m detecting your heart rate is raised, can i suggest listening to a relaxing playlist? you can upgrade to AI playlists for just $19.99 extra a month,
A screenshot of a twitter post from user @ZONEofTECH: “Ahhh...this is... not good.
My Samsung Galaxy Ring's battery started swelling. While it's on my finger. And while I'm about to board a flight. Now I cannot take it off and this thing hurts. Any quick suggestions @SamsungUK @SamsungMobileUS? – two photos of the faulty ring are attached
Reposted by Tom Williams, tech journo 👨‍💻
thedailyshow.com
Excited to introduce Vibes from Meta. Eat your slop, piggies!
its-tom-williams.bsky.social
New from me: @cloudflare.social says its internship program will see a “significant increase” in 2026 as it plots an almost 2,000 per cent rise in its annual intake — but its Australian office will miss out.

Full story on @information-age.bsky.social: ia.acs.org.au/article/2025...
Cloudflare wants almost 2,000% more interns in 2026
Networking firm seeks 1,111 juniors, but Australia misses out.
ia.acs.org.au
its-tom-williams.bsky.social
The kids are alright.
asherwolf.bsky.social
Kid’s school banned downloading games onto school laptops. Then social media on campus. Then phones. Then VPN’s.

Anyway, the students are still chatting during class. Using a shared Google doc
Reposted by Tom Williams, tech journo 👨‍💻
information-age.bsky.social
Optus is investigating its second significant outage in as many weeks, after an issue with a mobile phone tower on the New South Wales south coast led to nine failed emergency calls on the weekend.

Read more: ia.acs.org.au/article/2025...
New Optus outage blocks calls, including to Triple Zero
NBN outage also impacts calls in parts of WA.
ia.acs.org.au
its-tom-williams.bsky.social
Jumping on the radio with ABC Gold Coast's @bernyoung.bsky.social this afternoon to talk ChatGPT age checks and Meta's latest smart glasses (and those live demo hiccups).

Tune in from around 3:15pm 📻
its-tom-williams.bsky.social
DIGI's response to the question on VPNs was interesting: "perfectly legal".
its-tom-williams.bsky.social
New: Asked if VPNs would allow Aussies to circumvent online age checks, industry group DIGI — which represents social media and tech firms — admitted VPNs were "perfectly lawful". 💻

Also, which platforms eSafety has reportedly contacted about the under-16s age ban: ia.acs.org.au/article/2025...
its-tom-williams.bsky.social
Have confirmed with Disney that Australian Disney+ users won't be affected by the latest price hike in the US (controversially announced in the same week Jimmy Kimmel was removed and reinstated).

Australia last saw its Disney+ prices rise in February 👇
Disney+ Australian price increases announced
Streamer prepares to add ESPN sports coverage.
ia.acs.org.au
its-tom-williams.bsky.social
... and yes, the department quietly published the audit on its website on Friday after I had been chasing it through an FOI request for months. 😅
its-tom-williams.bsky.social
New from me: The federal department tasked with evaluating American firm @psiquantum.bsky.social's unsolicited proposal to build a quantum computer in Australia carried out an “appropriate” process despite minor issues with record-keeping and planning for market testing, an internal audit has found.
Govt's PsiQuantum deal given all-clear by internal audit
Market testing 'met the requirements … and was appropriate'.
ia.acs.org.au
its-tom-williams.bsky.social
Miss the Meta Connect event? The only clips you need are right here. 👀

(some of the demos that actually DID work were kinda cool though)
information-age.bsky.social
Technical issues caused several awkward moments for Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday, Australian time, when live demonstrations of the company’s new smart glasses and live AI assistant did not work as planned.

Read more: ia.acs.org.au/article/2025...
Glitches plague live demos at Meta smart glasses event
Zuckerberg keynote runs into issues not once, but twice.
ia.acs.org.au
its-tom-williams.bsky.social
New: Kmart breached privacy laws by “indiscriminately” using facial recognition at 28 stores without telling shoppers or seeking consent, Australia's privacy commissioner has found.

Kmart told me it was "disappointed" with the findings and was "reviewing its options to appeal the determination".
Kmart facial recognition broke privacy laws, regulator finds
Retailer 'indiscriminately' collected personal data.
ia.acs.org.au
its-tom-williams.bsky.social
New: ChatGPT users will soon have their ages estimated or verified so the chatbot can tailor its responses for those under 18, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stating some users will be asked to provide ID.

"We know [ID] is a privacy compromise for adults but believe it is a worthy tradeoff,” he says. 👇
ChatGPT wants to check your age soon — even using ID
OpenAI says under-18s 'need significant protection' from chatbot.
ia.acs.org.au
Reposted by Tom Williams, tech journo 👨‍💻
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Wippa going to the UN to spruik the social media ban.
36 Months joins the Prime Minister at the United Nations General Assembly
(UNGA) High Level Week in New York
Next week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be joined by 36 Months, the team behind Australia's world-first social media reform, at the UNGA High Level Week in New York.
Co-founded by Michael "Wippa" Wipfli (Nova
96.9 Sydney) and Rob Galluzzo (CEO, FINCH) - both fathers of three - 36 Months spearheaded the campaign to raise the minimum age Australians can create social media accounts from 13 to 16.
The law follows 36 Months' 147,000-strong petition delivered to Parliament by 36 Months with grieving families in November - the day the Prime Minister announced the law change.
The grassroots movement representing parents turned into a David-and-Goliath victory - and now, they're showcasing Australia's leadership on protection of children online to the world.
Wippa says, "The Australian government is putting the wellbeing of teenagers and families before big Tech. The goal of 36 Months was always to give our kids an extra 36 months to get to know themselves before the rest of the world does.