Meta’s claims that social media doesn’t harm children ‘can’t be taken seriously’, inquiry told

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Tech executives need to “fess up” to the damage their platforms have caused, the prime minister says, while taking aim at the “arrogant” and “out of touch” social media companies.

Anthony Albanese’s comments come after Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, told a parliamentary inquiry in Canberra it didn’t think social media had harmed children.

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The so-called toughest vape laws in the world are unfair and might create a new black market, seasoned vapers say

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While many might see vaping as a grotesque threat to the health of young people, and will welcome the so-called toughest vape laws in the world, seasoned vapers beg to differ.

Mark* has been vaping for more than 15 years. He used the device to break a 15-year, two-pack-a-day addiction to cigarettes. He loves his vapes. Mark says the new laws, which kick in on 1 July, are infantilising, contradictory and a backwards step.

WikiLeaks founder’s release was culmination of years of behind-the-scenes diplomatic lobbying, which got a big boost when Albanese took office

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Standing outside a US court on the island of Saipan in the western Pacific Ocean, lawyer Jennifer Robinson hailed the “historic” plea deal to secure the freedom of fellow Australian citizen Julian Assange.

After denouncing the case against the WikiLeaks founder as “the greatest threat to the first amendment in the 21st century”, Robinson gave a shoutout to the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, “for his statesmanship, his principled leadership and his diplomacy”. It was those outstanding qualities, she said, “which made this outcome possible”.