25/09/2025

THURSDAY | SEPT 25, 2025

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Optus fined US$66m over ‘appalling’ conduct

WhatsApp, Twitch face social media ban SYDNEY: Tech companies including WhatsApp and Reddit as well as streaming giant Twitch and gaming firm Roblox could be among more than a dozen sites added to Australia’s social media ban for under-16s, the country’s regulator said yesterday. Platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube were already included in the ban. But the head of Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has written to 16 more companies to “self-assess” whether they fall under the ban’s remit. The list also included Pinterest as well as Lego Play, streaming company Kick and gaming platform Steam. Companies will need to make a case if they believe their platform should be exempt from the ban, the national broadcaster ABC said. Inman Grant told the network that while some cases were “pretty clear”, the regulator would “give them the due diligence process”. “We need to hear them all out,” she said. The regulator said it will initially focus on platforms with the greatest number of users, where there are higher risks of harm. A Roblox spokesperson insisted the platform was not a social media company and therefore did not qualify for the ban. “We prohibit users from uploading real-world photos or video, or re-sharing news, and we do not offer social media feeds within experiences in Australia,” said the spokesperson. “We completed the self-assessment process and communicated to eSafety that our position remains that we are an exempted online gaming platform.” Australia has been a leader in global efforts to prevent internet harm. – AFP ABC ordered to pay fired journalist SYDNEY: Australia’s public broadcaster was ordered yesterday to pay a hefty penalty to a radio journalist dismissed over a social media post related to the Israel-Gaza conflict. Journalist Antoinette Lattouf took legal action after being fired in December 2023 just three days into a five-day casual contract with the ABC. She was fired for reposting to Instagram a Human Rights Watch video report on the Gaza conflict with the comment: “HRW reporting starvation as a tool of war”. Federal Court judge Darryl Rangiah previously said the broadcaster broke employment law by terminating Lattouf “for reasons including that she held political opinions opposing the Israeli military campaign in Gaza”. Rangiah said yesterday ABC’s contraventions caused very “significant consequences” for Lattouf. “For most people, employment is not just a source of income, but contributes substantially to their sense of purpose, identity and self worth,” he said. ABC – seen by many Australians as a bastion of fair reporting – was ordered to pay US$98,900 (RM416,441)yesterday, in addition to US$46,100 that was determined earlier this year. Rangiah said the compensation awarded to Lattouf was “sufficient” to address the impact of the offence. The amount must be paid within 28 days. Lattouf said the ABC had spent “well over US$2 million of taxpayer money fighting me”. “Whatever the penalty, for me this was never about money – it’s always been about accountability and the integrity of the information our public broadcaster gives us,” she posted on social media on Tuesday. “I hope the ABC takes this opportunity to restore credibility, regain trust, and re-establish integrity, because our democracy depends on a strong fourth estate.” – AFP

o Court labels firm’s conduct extremely serious

Optus has been cooperating with government agencies and regulatory bodies, he said. “We are deeply sorry to learn about the network incident at our Optus subsidiary that has impacted triple-0 calls, and to hear that customers could not connect to emergency services when they most needed them,” Yuen said in a statement. Optus last week said an issue with a network firewall upgrade triggered a 13-hour outage that disrupted emergency call services and potentially affected around 600 customers, some in remote areas who were unable to make phone calls. Rue said yesterday that initial checks suggested the incident could have been caused by human error and admitted procedures were not followed. Kerry Schott, non-executive director at AGL Energy, will lead an independent review into the technical failure, he said. “While our internal investigations are ongoing, this independent review will identify the causes and canvass the applicable processes, protocols and operations of this instance,” Rue said during a media briefing. The independent review is expected to be completed by year-end, with findings to be reported to the Optus board before being made public. – AFP/Reuters

“unconscionable conduct and inappropriate”. Following the ruling, Optus said it had changed its sales practices to better support customers. “Optus is remediating impacted customers as a matter of priority,” the company said. It will also donate US$662,300 to improve the financial literacy of indigenous communities. The fine comes just days after an outage impacted 600 people across South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory for at least 10 hours. The outage prevented calls to emergency services, with four deaths now linked to the outage. Optus announced yesterday details of an independent review that will investigate the series of events that took place and determine why emergency calls did not connect. “There are no words that can express how sorry I am about the very sad loss of the lives of four people, who could not reach emergency services in their time of need,” chief executive Stephen Rue said. Singapore Telecommunications, which owns Optus, apologised yesterday for the outage. Singtel Group CEO Yuen Kuan Moon said the company was working with the Optus board to investigate last week’s outage.

SYDNEY: Embattled Australian telco giant Optus was hit with a US$66 million (RM277.3 million) fine yesterday over “appalling” sales conduct as the firm grapples with fallout from a network outage linked to several deaths. A federal court ruled the company, one of Australia’s top telecoms providers, should be punished for selling products to vulnerable customers between 2019 and 2023 that they did not need or want, leaving many in debt. Many of these people were also indigenous and lived in remote parts of the country. Federal Court’s Justice Patrick O’Sullivan labelled the company’s conduct as “extremely serious” and “appalling”. Consumers incurred thousands of dollars of debt while on modest incomes and became embarrassed or stressed over how they would pay these, he said. The court formally approved the penalty yesterday, which Optus and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission had agreed to in June. Optus previously described its sales practices during the offending period as In a lengthy opening monologue, an emotional Kimmel praised the public outrage – which came from both left and right – over his suspension, as President Donald Trump threatened to sue ABC, the TV network that carries the show. “A government threat to silence a comedian the president doesn’t like is anti-American,” Kimmel said to wild applause. “Our government cannot be allowed to control what we do and do not say on television.” Kimmel, who frequently skewers Trump and his inner circle, raised the ire of conservatives last week when he said “the MAGA gang” was trying to exploit the college campus murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. On Tuesday he struck a conciliatory note. “It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” he said, his voice cracking. “Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what it was obviously a deeply disturbed individual.” Kimmel’s suspension last week had sparked glee for Trump, who has long hated the mockery he suffers at the hands of late night comedians. The latest bust-up between the Trump administration and critics in the media unfolded last week when Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr appeared to threaten the licences of ABC affiliates broadcasting the show unless they demanded Kimmel’s removal. Two companies that own dozens of those affiliates – Nexstar and Sinclair – then announced they would be removing the show from their schedules, prompting Disney to suspend the show nationwide.

Kimmel pulls no punches, defends free speech HOLLYWOOD: TV host Jimmy Kimmel defended free speech when he returned to US screens on Tuesday, calling government pressure on his late-night talk show “anti American” as critics decried his suspension as an attack on constitutional rights.

Kimmel supporters demonstrate outside the El Capitan Entertainment Centre in Hollywood. – AFPPIC

what many saw as a spineless response to government bullying. By Monday, Disney had backtracked, saying the suspension had been an effort to “avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country” and calling Kimmel’s comments “ill-timed and thus insensitive.” But it said it was bringing the show back after days of “thoughtful conversations with Jimmy”. – AFP

Sinclair – which last week demanded Kimmel apologise to Kirk’s family and make a donation to his right-wing activist group Turning Point USA – said on Monday its affiliates would not be broadcasting the show when it resumed. On Tuesday, Nexstar followed suit. Disney, which owns ABC, faced backlash after suspending Kimmel, with a rash of consumer cancellations and a wave of reproach from creators and Hollywood insiders over