Hundreds of Australians complain of wrongful social media account closures but ombudsman can’t help
More than 1,500 Australians in the past two-and-a-half years have complained to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman about digital platforms, with a third complaining about wrongful account terminations.But the TIO – which is responsible for complaints about mobile phone service, land lines and internet services – has no powers to do anything about it.The TIO’s report, released on Wednesday, comes before Australia’s social media ban, which will see teenagers under 16 banned from about 12 social media platforms from 10 December.The federal government has set out that the platforms must have quick appeals processes in place for people who have been wrongly assessed as being under 16 to regain access to their accounts.In the report, the TIO referred to Karen – not her real name – whose business page on social media was linked to her personal account.
It was used to manage advertising and communicating with customers.Sign up: AU Breaking News emailHer personal account was disabled without warning and she couldn’t contact customers via the business page as a result.She could not communicate with the platform to have the ban reversed because the response went to her disabled account.“She could find no other way to get help from them.Karen was worried about the financial and reputational damage to her business, so she contacted the TIO,” the report stated.
Karen is one of an increasing number of customers going to the TIO to report problems with social media.The TIO stated that between 1 January 2023 and 31 August 2025 consumers made 1,537 digital platform-related complaints.The TIO found also there had been a 28.6% increase in such complaints between 2023 and 2024.Guardian Australia has reported on similar account terminations made on Meta platforms in the past few months.
Issues with account access – including platforms blocking or banning users – made up 36% of the complaints reported.“We have heard from individuals and small businesses whose accounts have been locked due to alleged breaches of community standards, with no warning or explanation, risking personal and financial losses,” the TIO said.Google topped the digital platforms-related complaints to the TIO at 18%, followed by Kayo/Binge/Foxtel streaming company Hubbl at 15%, Apple and Microsoft at 14% of complaints each, and Meta (11%).The TIO found it was fielding these complaints because they often intersected with telecommunications issues – it can be difficult for customers to know whether an issue with a service is due to the platform itself, or an internet or connection problem.The ombudsman has recommended its remit be expanded to include digital platforms so they can respond to consumer complaints.
“We are calling for the Australian government to expand the TIO to become the communications ombudsman,” ombudsman Cynthia Gebert said.“To support government reforms such as the under-16s social media ban and digital duty of care, it’s more important than ever that people have appeal rights when digital platforms get things wrong.”She said it was heartbreaking to tell people they couldn’t resolve their problems with the TIO.“When someone loses access to their telco service, we work with the consumer and the company to resolve the issue,” she said.“But when someone is accidentally locked out of their social media or cloud storage account, and the platform is not responding, there’s nowhere for them to go.
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EU looks at legally forcing industries to reduce purchases from China
The EU is considering legally forcing industries to reduce purchases from China to insulate Europe from future hostile acts, the industry commissioner, Stéphane Séjourné, says.He made his remarks as the European Commission unveiled a €3bn (£2.63bn) strategy to reduce its dependency on China for critical raw materials amid a global scramble caused by Beijing’s “weaponisation” of supplies of everything from chips to rare earths.The ReSourceEU programme will seek to de-risk and diversify the bloc’s supply chains for key commodities with a funding initiative to support 25-30 strategic projects in the sector.It will include new rules to stop scrap aluminium leaving the bloc, recycling of magnets used in car batteries and a new €2bn a year fund backed by the European Investment Bank to support industries diversifying away from cheap Chinese supplies
Historic Smithfield and Billingsgate markets find new home in Docklands
After almost eight centuries at the heart of life in the capital and a period where their future lay in doubt, the historic Smithfield and Billingsgate markets are to get a new home on a former industrial site in east London.The proposal by the City of London Corporation – the governing body that runs both sites as well as the Square Mile financial district – would relocate the markets to Newham’s Royal Docks.The announcement comes just over a year after the corporation voted to permanently close Smithfield meat market and Billingsgate fish market when it pulled the plug on a planned £740m relocation to Dagenham, blaming rising costs.At the time, it said it was no longer planning to build a joint replacement location, a decision that would have spelled the end of centuries of meat and fish trading in the capital. Instead, it had offered financial support to the traders to help them find new premises
Amazon and the tightening grip of capitalism | Letters
Yanis Varoufakis argues that Amazon marks a shift to “technofeudalism”, claiming its ownership of digital infrastructure forces capitalists, governments and users to pay it economic rents (How Amazon turned our capitalist era of free markets into the age of technofeudalism, 27 November). This rests on an idealised view of capitalism. Early capitalism saw similar dynamics: the East India Company, backed by the British state, controlled trade routes, exploited resources and wielded political power, enabling it to charge above-market prices for commodities such as tea and spices.In Capital, Karl Marx noted that English landlords helped establish capitalism by dispossessing peasants and commodifying land. They earned monopoly rents from their exclusive control of this productive resource – a portion of surplus value originally created by exploited labour and first appropriated by industrial capitalists before being transferred to landowners
Anti-immigrant material among AI-generated content getting billions of views on TikTok
Hundreds of accounts on TikTok are garnering billions of views by pumping out AI-generated content, including anti-immigrant and sexualised material, according to a report.Researchers said they had uncovered 354 AI-focused accounts pushing 43,000 posts made with generative AI tools and accumulating 4.5bn views over a month-long period.According to AI Forensics, a Paris-based non-profit, some of these accounts attempt to game TikTok’s algorithm – which decides what content users see – by posting large amounts of content in the hope that it goes viral.One posted up to 70 times a day or at the same time of day, an indication of an automated account, and most of the accounts were launched at the beginning of the year
The Clippers’ chaotic unravelling leaves Chris Paul as its most painful casualty
Pull out your Los Angeles Clippers bingo cards. Anyone have the square marked “owner and star player accused of skirting the salary cap through improper means”? Go ahead and stamp that one. How about “losing 14 of 16 after a hopeful 3-2 start”? Mark it. And yes, you can fill in “other star averaging nearly 27 a night at age 36 – including a 50-piece against the Detroit Pistons, one of the league’s best teams”. The box reading “Clippers fans tearing out their hair at alarming rates and contemplating shameful, fairweather defections” is probably safe to cross off, pending review
Maro Itoje eyes World Cup glory after England dodge big guns in 2027 draw
Maro Itoje has set his sights on Rugby World Cup glory in Australia in 2027 after England were handed a potentially favourable path through the tournament when the draw was made in Sydney on Wednesday.England, who have risen to third in the world rankings after an 11-match winning streak, emerged on the other side of the draw from the reigning world champions, South Africa, the three-times winners New Zealand and France.England are in Pool F with Wales, Tonga and Zimbabwe at the expanded 24-team event with Italy, Australia, Ireland and Argentina possible opponents in the last 16 and beyond.“Our ambition is to do very well and win this tournament,” Itoje, the England captain, said. “But to do that we know we have to make sure we get our preparation right and the next two years leading to the World Cup is massive
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