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Tech billionaire Elon Musk on Thursday called the Australian government “fascists” over plans to crack down on misinformation online. Social media companies could face fines up to 5% of their global revenue if they enable the spread of misinformation, under a law proposed Thursday by Australia’s Labor government. Musk, who considers himself a free speech advocate, made the one-word comment in a repost on his social media platform X of an article about the proposed legislation. “Elon Musk’s had more positions on free speech than the Kama Sutra,” Government Services Minister Bill Shorten told the Australian network Channel Nine on Friday. The case is one of several that are ongoing between X and the Australian regulator, eSafety.

Persons: Elon Musk, ”, Musk, “ Elon Musk’s, Stephen Jones, Elon, ” Jones, Michelle Rowland, X, Anthony Albanese Organizations: Tech, Social, Australia’s Labor, Government, Australian, Australian Broadcasting Corp, “, ”, Twitter Locations: Australia

☆ Elon Musk calls Australian government 'fascists' over misinformation law
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-13 | by ( Peter Guo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Tech billionaire Elon Musk on Thursday called the Australian government "fascists" over plans to crack down on misinformation online. "Elon Musk's had more positions on free speech than the Kama Sutra," Government Services Minister Bill Shorten told the Australian network Channel Nine on Friday. "I mean, is this what he thinks free speech is all about?" At the time, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called Musk an "arrogant billionaire who thinks he is above the law." The Australian regulator later dropped its legal effort after a federal court refused to extend a temporary order to block the graphic content.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Elon Musk's, Stephen Jones, Elon, Jones, Michelle Rowland, X, Anthony Albanese Organizations: Tech, Social, Australia's Labor, Government, Australian, Australian Broadcasting Corp, Twitter Locations: Australia

☆ Qatar Airlines avoids Australian lawsuit over forced invasive examinations of women
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Jack Guy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Qatar Airways has avoided a lawsuit over an incident in which a number of female passengers were forced to undergo invasive medical examinations, after an Australian federal court dismissed the case Wednesday. On October 2, 2020, 13 Australian women were transiting through Doha airport in Qatar on their way to Sydney when they were taken off their Qatar Airways plane by members of the Qatari security services and subjected to physical examinations in ambulances on the airport tarmac. CNN has contacted Qatar Airways for comment. However, the judge also ruled that the women could file a revised complaint against MATAR, the Qatar Airways subsidiary. “The decision to allow QATAR Airways and the Civil Aviation Authority out of the proceedings is being carefully reviewed and if there is a proper basis an appeal will be quickly filed,” Sturzaker said in a statement.

Persons: John Halley of, ”, Halley, MATAR, Damian Sturzaker, ” Sturzaker, ” Halley, Scott Morrison Organizations: CNN — Qatar Airways, Qatar Airways, Qatar Ministry of Interior, CNN, Qatar Civil Aviation Authority, Federal Court, MOI, Sydney, Marque Lawyers, QATAR Airways, Civil Aviation Authority Locations: Doha, Qatar, Sydney, MOI, Sydney , New South Wales, State, Australia

☆ Australia fines lender NAB $1.4 mln for wrongfully charging fees
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The National Australia Bank Logo is seen on a branch in central Sydney, Australia, February 8, 2018. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies National Australia Bank Ltd FollowSept 22 (Reuters) - The Australian Federal Court has fined the country's second-biggest lender National Australia Bank (NAB) <NAB.AX> a penalty of A$2.1 million ($1.4 million) for wrongfully charging customers periodic payment fees, the securities regulator said on Friday. Between January 2017 and July 2018, National Australia Bank continued to charge its customers periodic payment fees for transferring money despite knowing it had no contractual entitlement to do so, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) said. The bank wrongfully charged 2,888 personal banking customers and 513 business clients payment fees totalling A$139,845 on 74,593 occasions, the regulator added. Shares of NAB were trading 0.7% lower as of 0221 GMT after declining as much as 1.3% earlier in the day.

Persons: Daniel Munoz, Sarah Court, Sameer Manekar, Ayushman, Janane Venkatraman, Dhanya Ann Thoppil Organizations: National, REUTERS, National Australia Bank, Australian Federal Court, Australia Bank, Australian Securities & Investments Commission, NAB, Reuters, Royal Commission, Thomson Locations: Sydney, Australia, Bengaluru

☆ Australia fines lender NAB $1.4 million for wrongfully charging fees
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The National Australia Bank Logo is seen on a branch in central Sydney, Australia, February 8, 2018. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies National Australia Bank Ltd FollowSept 22 (Reuters) - The Australian Federal Court has fined the country's second-biggest lender National Australia Bank (NAB) <NAB.AX> a penalty of A$2.1 million ($1.4 million) for wrongfully charging customers periodic payment fees, the securities regulator said on Friday. Between January 2017 and July 2018, National Australia Bank continued to charge its customers periodic payment fees for transferring money despite knowing it had no contractual entitlement to do so, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) said. The bank wrongfully charged 2,888 personal banking customers and 513 business clients payment fees totalling A$139,845 on 74,593 occasions, the regulator added. NAB in an email to Reuters acknowledged "some customers were incorrectly charged for periodical payment fees several years ago," adding that it had completed a remediation program and repaid more than A$8.3 million to affected customers.

☆ Australian war hero found complicit in Afghan murders says devastated by ruling, but will not apologise
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

An Australian federal court judge on June 1 dismissed Roberts-Smith's defamation case against three newspapers for articles accusing him of violating the rules of engagement and killing unarmed Afghans. In his ruling the judge said the newspapers had proven substantial truth in their reporting. read more"I'm devastated with the result, it's a terrible outcome and it's the incorrect outcome," Roberts-Smith told television network Nine Entertainment (NEC.AX) at Perth Airport baggage claim late on Wednesday. Asked if he remained proud of his actions in Afghanistan, Roberts-Smith replied "of course I am." Roberts-Smith, 44, whose portrait hangs in the Australian War Memorial, has not been charged with any crimes.

Persons: Ben Roberts, Smith, Roberts, Byron Kaye, Michael Perry Organizations: SYDNEY, Victoria, Special Air Service, Nine Entertainment, Australian, Thomson Locations: Afghanistan, Australian, Bali , Indonesia, New Zealand, Australia

☆ Indigenous Australians file human rights complaint with pension funds over Santos gas projects
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, April 26 (Reuters) - A group of Indigenous Australians on Wednesday filed a human rights complaint against 20 large Australian pension funds for investing in Santos Ltd's (STO.AX) two gas projects, putting pressure on the funds over their fossil fuel investment plans. Three traditional landowners, in the complaint filed directly with the superannuation funds, alleged the funds had an "obligation to prevent adverse human rights impacts of companies in which they are invested". Commonwealth Super Corp, AustralianSuper, Australian Retirement Trust, Aware Super and AMP - the five largest pension funds - did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment. An appeal by Santos to resume drilling on its A$3.6 billion Barossa gas project off northern Australia was rejected by the federal court in December after indigenous groups raised objections. Santos then said it would apply for fresh approvals for its biggest project in line with the court's order.

☆ Australia court dismisses customer fees lawsuit against CBA
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 29 (Reuters) - The Australian Federal Court has dismissed proceedings initiated by the country's securities regulator against top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX) over alleged incorrect charging of monthly fees to customers, the regulator said on Tuesday. The court, however, found that the bank had not breached its general obligation to ensure that financial services were provided efficiently. CBA in a statement acknowledged the court order as well as "errors" in charging monthly account fees to some customers. "We confirm that CBA has completed the customer remediation program in relation to the issues in the proceedings," the bank said. In September, another ASIC proceeding against CBA over allegations of improperly collecting commissions was dismissed by the federal court, dealing a blow to consumer advocates seeking tougher regulations.

☆ Australian telecom firms fined $22.1 mln for false internet speed claims
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 11 (Reuters) - Three Australian telecom firms have been ordered by a court to pay a collective A$33.5 million ($22.08 million) in penalties for making misleading claims about speeds of some NBN internet plans, the country's competition regulator said on Friday. The Australian Federal Court has ordered Telstra (TLS.AX) to pay A$15 million, a unit of TPG Telecom (TPG.AX) to cough up A$5 million, and imposed a fine of A$13.5 million on Optus, a unit of Singapore Telecommunications (STEL.SI), the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) said. All three telcos have admitted in court of making false or misleading statements, the regulator said, claiming nearly 120,000 customers were affected. According to the ACCC, the false or misleading statements were made for at least 12 months in 2019 and possibly extended until 2020, related to their 50 Megabits per second (Mbps) or 100Mbps fibre to the node plans. ($1 = 1.5175 Australian dollars)Reporting by Harshita Swaminathan; Editing by Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australian regulator appeals dismissal of petition against CBA, unit by court
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 26 (Reuters) - Australia's corporate regulator said it had appealed the Federal Court's decision to dismiss its petition against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX) and its pension unit on allegations of improperly collecting commissions. Last month, the Australian Federal Court dismissed a petition by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) that accused the country's top lender and Colonial First State of a scheme, where the bank took commission to sell products for its unit from 2013 to 2019, a banned practice known as conflicted remuneration. read more"We have appealed this decision because we are concerned that it will limit the operation of conflicted remuneration laws introduced in 2012," ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said in a statement on Wednesday. Reporting by Tejaswi Marthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A passenger who is suing a cruise company over its handling of COVID-19 says it was 'probably very stupid' of her to believe the vessel was free of the virus
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Susan Karpik is suing a cruise company and operator over their handling of COVID-19 on board a ship. She said it was "probably very stupid" of her to believe the ship was free of the virus when she boarded. Karpik is the lead plaintiff in a class action against the cruise company, Carnival and operator, Princess Cruise Lines. Carnival and Princess Cruise Lines did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside normal working hours. A US couple on board the ship previously accused Princess Cruises and local health officials of covering up infections on board the cruise ship, Insider reported.

☆ Australia court dismisses petition against CBA, unit over banned commissions
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Sept 29 (Reuters) - The Australian Federal Court has dismissed a petition by the country's corporate regulator against Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX) and its pension unit on allegations of improperly collecting commissions, the regulator said. However, the dismissal of this petition by the court is a blow to consumer advocates who wanted tougher regulation, and also absolves CBA of some of the most damaging allegations aired at the inquiry. The regulator said on Thursday that the court found that the payments made by Colonial to CBA did not constitute benefits within the definition of "conflicted remuneration". CBA in an emailed response to Reuters acknowledged the judgement, but refrained from commenting any further. ($1 = 1.5420 Australian dollars)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Sameer Manekar and Byron Kaye; Editing by Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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