This month a predator with ties to the online extortion group known as 764 was sentenced to decades in prison. The mother of one of his victims wants parents to know the truth about this ‘harrowing’ global trend

• Sadistic online exploitation: five warning signs for parents - and how to keep young people safe

“My beautiful, kind, intelligent, trusting daughter had the misfortune of stumbling across a link in a Discord server that led her to your evil and cruel group.

“The grooming of her started immediately, and what followed was unimaginably harrowing and traumatic. You were just one of the group members who abused her, who made her do things that no young person should ever be made to do.”

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© Illustration: Avinash Weerasekera/The Guardian

© Illustration: Avinash Weerasekera/The Guardian

© Illustration: Avinash Weerasekera/The Guardian

Even after a week in which Pauline Hanson and One Nation candidates tripped over themselves trying to explain key policies, voters still backed the party

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The One Nation hype machine went into overdrive after Saturday’s Secret Harbour byelection but one thing is clear from the thumping victory.

Despite the party’s sustained surge in public support, Labor and the Coalition still don’t have any idea how to calm an angry electorate and dint support for Pauline Hanson and her insurgent movement.

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© Photograph: Michael Gorton/AAP

© Photograph: Michael Gorton/AAP

© Photograph: Michael Gorton/AAP

One Nation candidate Luke Herdegen secures 57% of the vote after preferences as Barnaby Joyce says ‘politics has changed’

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Barnaby Joyce has declared “politics has changed” after One Nation claimed victory in the Secret Harbour state byelection in Western Australia.

The One Nation MP celebrated the win on Sunday and said the results showed his party could convert high polling into on-the-ground votes.

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© Photograph: Richard Wainwright/AAP

© Photograph: Richard Wainwright/AAP

© Photograph: Richard Wainwright/AAP

One Nation candidate Luke Herdegen secures 57% of the vote after preferences as Barnaby Joyce says ‘politics has changed’

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Barnaby Joyce has declared “politics has changed” after One Nation claimed victory in the Secret Harbour state byelection in Western Australia.

The One Nation MP celebrated the win on Sunday and said the results showed his party could convert high polling into on-the-ground votes.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Richard Wainwright/AAP

© Photograph: Richard Wainwright/AAP

© Photograph: Richard Wainwright/AAP

Proposals for curbing social media use among children have wide support, but critics say they are ineffective.

© Jeremy Piper/Reuters

Governments around the world have passed or proposed a range of bans or restrictions on young teens using addictive social media platforms.

© Jeremy Piper/Reuters

Australia's recorded music industry will bar tracks wholly generated by artificial intelligence from official charts as burgeoning generative technologies threaten artists' livelihoods, a representative said on Tuesday.

Tasmanian devils, platypus and dingoes all at risk of contracting the highly contagious bird flu as the country battles growing case numbers