Meta threatens to shut down social networks in New Mexico over child safety court case
Meta has threatened to block access to Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp in New Mexico, which would be an unprecedented move in its home country,The ultimatum, made in a court filing this week, comes after the company was found liable and fined $375m for child safety failures in a landmark lawsuit brought by the state’s attorney general,The second phase of the suit, known as the remedies phase, is scheduled to begin on Monday and will determine what actions the tech giant is obligated to take in response,Should Meta lose the second phase of trial, which will begin on 4 May, it would be compelled to introduce a series of reforms to its products,The New Mexico department of justice argues these changes would make Meta’s social networks safer for underage users in the state.
Meta has argued these reforms are unfeasible and it would be left with little option but to withdraw its services completely.“Many of the requests are technologically or practically infeasible and would essentially force Meta to build entirely separate apps for use only in New Mexico,” states Meta’s court filing.“Therefore, granting onerous relief could compel Meta to entirely withdraw Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp from the state as the only feasible means of compliance.”A revamp would include building and operating two different versions of Teen Accounts for Facebook and Instagram, and doing so would be technologically challenging and costly, the filing states.New Mexico’s attorney general, Raúl Torrez, who filed the lawsuit against Meta, called the threat to withdraw a “PR stunt” in a statement.
“We know Meta has the ability to make these changes.For years, the company has rewritten its own rules, redesigned its products and even bent to the demands of dictators to preserve market access.This is not about technological capability.Meta simply refuses to place the safety of children ahead of engagement, advertising revenue and profit.”A verdict for the first phase of the trial was reached in March.
A jury ordered Meta to pay $375m in civil penalties after finding the company misled consumers about platform safety and enabled harms including child sexual exploitation.The lawsuit was filed by the state attorney general in December 2023, the first jury trial to hold Meta liable for actions on its platform.It followed a Guardian investigation published in April of that year that found Facebook and Instagram had become marketplaces for child sex trafficking, and was cited multiple times in the complaint.The second phase of the lawsuit is a bench trial that is expected to last three weeks.The New Mexico department of justice said it will argue that Meta’s platforms constitute a public nuisance and seek court-ordered reforms to protect children.
They include effective age verification to prevent adults from posing as minors, ensuring that all teens receive appropriate safeguards and enforcing minimum age requirements for pre-teens; safer recommendation algorithms that do not prioritize engagement over children’s wellbeing; prominent warning labels about platform risks; permanent bans for adults who engage in or facilitate child exploitation; and restrictions on end-to-end encryption for minors to prevent predators from operating in secrecy.The state’s proposed reforms would be enforced by independent oversight through a court-appointed child safety monitor.In a virtual press conference on 30 April, Torrez said his office is exploring qualified independent technical monitors from around the country, but a particular one has not yet been identified.“The New Mexico attorney general’s focus on a single platform is a misguided strategy that ignores the hundreds of other apps teens use daily.Rather than providing comprehensive protections, the state’s proposed mandates infringe on parental rights and stifle free expression for all New Mexicans,” said a Meta spokesperson.
When asked by the Guardian whether other platforms would be required to adopt these measures, or if the state plans to introduce child safety regulations across all platforms, a spokesperson for the New Mexico attorney general’s office said its current focus is on Meta because it has been found liable in court.In Meta’s most recent filing, it argued against the state’s allegation that its platforms are a public nuisance because Meta does not compel anyone to use its services.“Were it otherwise, fast-food chains would be liable for creating a public nuisance by selling food that can contribute to obesity,” the filing states.
Bank of England warns ‘higher inflation unavoidable’ after holding interest rates
The Bank of England has left interest rates unchanged at 3.75% but said the UK may need to brace for increases later this year, as “higher inflation is unavoidable” as a result of the war in the Middle East.The Bank’s rate-setting monetary policy committee (MPC) voted to leave borrowing costs on hold, but said that if energy costs stayed persistently high it might have to take a more “forceful” response to keep inflation under control.The nine-member MPC was split 8-1 in its decision to keep borrowing costs on hold for the third consecutive meeting.Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, said: “Where we go from here will depend on the size and duration of the shock to energy prices” as the conflict in the Middle East evolves
The chips are down: pizza, fried chicken and doughnut shares plunge on ASX as living costs bite budgets
Once a symbol of cheap eating, fast food is transforming into a luxury many can no longer afford due to resurgent living costs.This shift is reflected on the ASX, where major pizza, fried chicken and doughnut outlets are seeing significant price drops, raising the question: are consumers so downbeat that they are even giving up on fast food?Shares in Domino’s Pizza, KFC operator Collins Foods and multi-brand food franchise owner Retail Food Group have all suffered double-digit falls over the past two months, coinciding with surging oil prices tied to the US-Israel war on Iran.The Guzman y Gomez share price is also down, even as the broader ASX has proven robust.Lochlan Halloway, an equity market strategist at Morningstar, says the stocks are under pressure because concerns over consumer spending are coinciding with fast-rising operational costs.“Fast food is a discretionary purchase, something that’s probably fairly easy to cut if your budget’s pinched, and so they might be a casualty of consumers just trading out of the category entirely,” Halloway said
Judge cuts off Musk’s AI doomsday talk as his testimony ends in Open AI case
Elon Musk’s court case against Sam Altman continued on Thursday, after a day of contentious exchanges during OpenAI’s cross-examination of the Tesla CEO. Musk faced more combative questioning throughout the morning, in a glimpse of what may await other prominent witnesses set to take the stand.Witness testimony and evidence has revealed formerly private emails, text messages and diary entries surrounding the formation of OpenAI, giving a behind-the-scenes look at how the tech behemoth was created. Many of the tech industry’s most powerful players are named as witnesses and will give their accounts on the origins of Musk and Altman’s bitter feud. Altman will testify later in the trial, which will last three weeks
AI outperforms doctors in Harvard trial of emergency triage diagnoses
From George Clooney in ER to Noah Wyle in The Pitt, emergency department doctors have long been popular heroes. But will it soon be time to hang up the scrubs?A groundbreaking Harvard study has found that AI systems outperformed human doctors in high-pressure emergency medicine triage, diagnosing more accurately in the potentially life and death moments when people are first rushed to hospital.The results were described by independent experts as showing “a genuine step forward” in the clinical reasoning of AIs and came as part of trials that tested the responses of hundreds of doctors against an AI.The authors said the results, published in the journal Science, showed large language models (LLMs) “have eclipsed most benchmarks of clinical reasoning”.One experiment focused on 76 patients who arrived at the emergency room of a Boston hospital
LIV Golf races against time for investment with confirmation Saudi funding will end in 2026
LIV Golf’s race to secure at least a watered-down future is formally under way after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) confirmed it will cease to fund the breakaway circuit at the end of this year. Fears over LIV’s existence are inescapable given the PIF has bestowed in excess of $5bn on the tour since 2021. Tournaments started in the following year; there is a very real chance the 2026 season will prove LIV’s last.LIV had already confirmed appointment of new board members, aimed with the specific task of raising finance, by the time the PIF stipulated its position on Thursday. “PIF has made the decision to fund LIV Golf only for the remainder of the 2026 season,” read a statement
Blues win Women’s State of Origin opener in fast fight with Maroons – as it happened
Here is Jack Snape’s match report:What an exciting game to start the series – NSW will be very relieved to get the win with the next two games being played in Queensland and will feel confident that they can snatch a win up there.The Maroons will take a lot of heart from that performance though. They lost two players to HIAs, both important players to their side, and they still were in the match right until the final whistle. They will have a lot of belief that they can win the final two matches with home crowds behind them.Thank you so much for joining us tonight – I hope you enjoyed this game as much as I did! Champagne rugby league out there in Newcastle tonight
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