Our indomitable AEC have launched a disinformation register - a list of "prominent pieces of disinformation the AEC has discovered regarding the federal election process". It's not a place you can submit things you've seen, but somewhere for the AEC to debunk the crap getting spread on social media. As they say, the "AEC is not the arbiter of truth regarding political communication and do not seek to censor political debate in any way. However, when it comes to the election process we conduct, we're the experts and we're active in defending Australia's democracy". The register can be found here. Some of it is plainly obviously fake, but it's good to see it tackled so those who are yet to be fully lobotomised by Facebook and Telegram groups can get some facts.
The eSafety commissioner has sent the government feedback on its proposed anti-trolling laws. The law, if you need reminding, would force social media companies to reveal the personal information (name, address, etc) of its users, to someone that complains about content, should that content be found to be a defamatory comment. Essentially the commissioner reckons the law is impossible to create as the social media companies do not know who their users are and if they did, they can't be trusted to do the job of "collecting and holding large amounts of personal information in a private and secure manner". When the stooge you hand picked for the role doesn't play along, you know have a bad law on your hands.
Heaps more stuff is blocked/banned in Russia as part of the ongoing effort to make life uncomfortable there and in turn, uncomfortable for Putin and his cronies. A quick list of what's unavailable or reduced in capacity just in the last few days:
I got hit with a bout of spreadsheet-itis this afternoon and compared the total cost of ownership of the recently updated MG ZS EV to the petrol version of the same car, the MG ZST. My napkin math shows that over 7 years, in Victoria, driving the average 15,000km/yr, the EV version is still a tiny bit more expensive. But in NSW where the incentives are more generous and there's no EV road usage tax, the EV version is much cheaper to own, despite the higher purchase price ($46,990 vs $25,490). If you do a fair bit of driving, like say over 20,000km/yr, the EV version is cheaper, even in Victoria. With petrol prices the way they are lately, there's never been a better time to check out an EV.
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