Plus: I can't use the new Apple emojis in this title because it will break the newsletter ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

March 10, 2026 | Read online
# 70% of kids getting around social media ban, what is mobile phone 'coverage' and Anthropic v Trump Plus: I can't use the new Apple emojis in this title because it will break the newsletter
{{OPEN_TRACKING_PIXEL}}
Edition 2518
"Goodwill computer museum" by Larry D. Moore is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Mentioned in today’s edition: Discord, Telstra, Anthropic, Trump, Signal, Grok, Microsoft Co-work and Ray-Ban Meta. Plus, deals on JBL soundbars, Asus gaming mice and Apple iPhones.
# The News
### Australia is all in on age verification. So how is the teen social media ban going?
As Australia introduces age verification for adult websites, games and AI, an early survey suggests that 70% of teens are currently getting around the social media ban (Courier-Mail). There wasn't a lot of widespread media coverage until Monday — although Sizzlers knew all about it — but the new industry codes came into effect yesterday (ABC News). At the same time, a News Corp survey of close to 300 10-16-year-olds found that more than two-thirds are getting around the ban by using family members' faces, wearing disguises, and creating new accounts.
The Sizzle: With the proviso that News Corp's survey is pretty small, and noting that I assume age check systems will continue to improve, it's time to start pointing out that just about every issue with the age check tech seems to be coming to pass: face scans are being fooled, kids are finding workarounds like using their families, and there's some migration to services that aren't doing the same restrictions (like Discord, mentioned in the article).
We should be doing more to protect kids against age-inappropriate content. I think it's good to ensure that kids aren't accidentally exposed to porn on X, or whatever. There's clearly wide support for that. The issue has always been: how well do these systems work? The answer so far appears to be: not very well. And it has consequences. Doing this costs money, they create privacy concerns, they backfire and limit people's access unfairly. And while News Corp is blaming the companies, those tech companies, along with many others, warned of these exact problems prior to the ban! I'm sure tech companies can do more, but I worry that the teen social media ban is turning out to be safety theatre. It's pretending to do something about improving online safety for young people, but actually just wastes our time and effort while leaving the real problems unaddressed.
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### What does mobile phone signal "coverage" mean? Well, depends on whether you're Telstra or everyone else
Telstra's coverage map could halve under the new standards proposed by the telco watchdog (ITNews). ACMA has put out draft rules that establish the minimum requirement of mobile phone signal strength that can be considered "coverage", rather than letting telcos choose their own level (SMH, $). Their proposed level, -115dBm, is higher than Telstra's proposed -122dBm. And Telstra's competitors TPG and Optus say that Telstra's levels would include a million square kilometres of area where people "probably" can't place calls. TPG even claims it tested 20 locations advertised by Telstra as having "full coverage" and was unable to place a call lol. ACMA plans to lock in the new rules by 30 June.
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### Anthropic sues the Trump administration, reveals how much money it makes
A quick update on the Anthropic-Department of D̶e̶f̶e̶n̶s̶e̶ War stoush: Anthropic is suing over the Trump administration's "supply chain risk" declaration in two courts (CNBC). A group of OpenAI and Google DeepMind employees have filed a statement in court in support of Anthropic (TechCrunch). The AI company claims in court docs that the move will cost it "billions" (WIRED, $). Even juicier, the court docs give some financial insights: that Anthropic's sales "exceed $5 billion", and that it has spent "over $10 billion" to train and run its models. Hmm....
Related AI financial news: CNBC reports that OpenAI pulled its support for the big Oracle Texas data centre because it will have outdated GPUs by the time it launches, leaving Oracle with a bunch of outdated tech. Is that good?
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Leftovers
Australia:
AirTrunk says it feels great about being heavily invested in Middle East-based data centres as it lines up $1.7b green loan for massive Tokyo data centre (Australian Financial Review, $) EV industry calls on federal government to keep electric car discount (The Driven) The only new industry-facing research funding in the National AI Plan will sit locked away until 2028 (InnovationAus) Don't rush guys!
Rest of World:
Bluesky's CEO steps down (Bluesky) Dutch govt warns of Signal, WhatsApp account hijacking attacks (BleepingComputer) Grok will let you opt out of it editing your photo when you upload it to X, which is great just as long as no one figures out how to copy images (The Verge) Apple's HomePad delayed AGAIN (The Verge) Lol Microsoft launches its Cowork equivalent (Microsoft) Workers report watching Ray-Ban Meta-shot footage of people using the bathroom (Ars Technica) Your LLM doesn't write correct code. It writes plausible code (Katana Quant)
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Oh, Also
### I can't use the new Apple emojis in this title because it will break the newsletter
OK I know that all you Android folk have had these for a few months, but the forthcoming iOS update, 26.4, has the new cohort of emojis from Unicode's Emoji 17.0 list (Emojipedia) .... and I am excited. Distorted face is already a clubhouse favourite, but I think using being able to use the Bigfoot for awkward moments and the ballerina for gloating will be a drastic improvement in my life.
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Bargains
Electronics
JBL SB510 3.1 Channel Soundbar With Built-In Subwoofer - $109 at Telstra (Down from $195) Samsung 48" S90F OLED 4K Smart AI TV [2025] - $1288 at JB Hi-Fi (Down from $1799) Reolink RLK16-1200D8-A, 12MP PoE Security System With Color Night Vision - $1539 at Reolink AU (Down from $2199) Samsung 85" Neo QLED QN70F 4K Samsung Vision AI Smart TV - $2399 at Samsung Education (Down from $3199)
Computing
Asus ROG Spatha X Wireless FPS MMO Gaming Mouse - $145 at Amazon Ubiquiti U7 Pro Wall Access Point - $355 at Amazon (Down from $562) Samsung 43 Inch M70F 4K UHD Smart Monitor - $497 at Amazon (Down from $599)
Mobile
Dodo Medium Sim Only Plan - $15 at Canstar (Down from $30) Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra With TGG Mobile 24-M Plan - $99 at The Good Guys iPhone 16E (128GB) - $797 at Amazon (Down from $999)
# The End
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