A New Mexico court ordered (PDF) Meta to create a $567 million fund to address harms linked to youth mental health and child sexual exploitation after finding its platforms constituted a public nuisance. "In sum, the Court finds that New Mexico is in the midst of a teen mental health crisis affecting public health and public safety in and throughout the state, and that Meta's platforms are a significant contributing cause to the crisis," wrote Chief Judge Bryan Biedscheid in the decision. The fund comes on top of $375 million in civil penalties, though the judge declined to mandate changes to features such as infinite scroll and autoplay, citing potential First Amendment and Section 230 concerns. Tech Policy Press reports: The decision follows the second phase of in the State of New Mexico v. Meta Platforms Inc., which consisted of a bench trial. Its central question was whether Meta's platforms amounted to a public nuisance in New Mexico, and, if the court found that they did, what remedy would be needed to address it. In March, a Santa Fe jury found Meta liable for violations of New Mexico's Unfair Practices Act, awarding $375 million in civil penalties. The jury deliberated less than a day following that nearly seven-week trial. The $567 million abatement fund would be in addition to the civil penalties, according to today's decision.

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez sued Meta in December 2023, alleging the company made false public statements about the safety of its platforms while knowing internally that its products facilitated child sexual exploitation. The court denied Meta's Section 230 defense in May 2024. In today's decision, the court again asserted that "Section 230 does not preclude the State's public nuisance claim," but the decision attempted to thread the needle on issues that the court determined might have run "afoul" of the statute, or of the First Amendment, such as issuing remedies around any particular product feature.

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Google's $15 billion data-center project in Visakhapatnam is facing protests and legal challenges over fears that it will worsen local water shortages and disturb wildlife near the Kambalakonda sanctuary. Google says the campus will use advanced air cooling and comply with Indian law, while state officials deny that residential or rural water supplies will be tapped. Reuters reports: The southern state of Andhra Pradesh, governed by an ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has hailed the project as historic and transformational, has denied allegations that the project was fast-tracked without weighing risks to water supplies and wildlife. But the growing opposition could become an early test for Google's biggest-ever India investment, which is facing several legal challenges over its impact on water supplies and proximity to a wildlife sanctuary that is home to leopards and pangolins.

In recent weeks, activists and children have marched in Visakhapatnam city, holding banners saying "We cannot drink DATA" and painting handcuffs on the Google logo, social media posts show. On Sunday, Reuters attended a public gathering where activists chalked out plans for holding door-to-door awareness campaigns and beach protests in coming days. "Development should not be at the cost of livelihood of the people," Raja Rama Mohan Roy, founder of non-profit Green Visakha said at the event where he presented statistics on Visakhapatnam's stressed water supply and demand.

The government says the city receives 410 million liters of water a day from its reservoirs and rivers, against a requirement of 480 million. Rationing of water supplies is common in the city with a population of 2.5 million people. [...] The state's top court on Monday asked the government to defend against allegations leveled by activist group Jal Biradari (Water Community), which says the project will strain water availability by putting stress on a nearby reservoir. The Andhra Pradesh High Court will next hear the public interest litigation on August 24.

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alternative_right shares a report from The Hill: A federal judge in Mississippi ruled Wednesday that "tower dump" warrants are unconstitutional, declining to reverse a lower court decision refusing the government's request to obtain the search warrants in a series of violent crime investigations. A "tower dump" involves cellphone companies providing law enforcement with access to the time and location data of all mobile devices connected to specific cell towers during a designated time window.

Law enforcement had sought approval for several of these search warrants as part of criminal investigations into gang-related activity in the Jackson, Miss., area last year, arguing the data could help identify all those potentially involved, particularly in incidents with unknown suspects. A magistrate judge denied the applications, holding that "tower dumps" are impermissible general warrants. The district judge agreed. The order repeatedly referenced the Supreme Court's recent decision in Chatrie v United States, in which the majority held that geofence warrants require constitutional privacy protections.

"With this information, the Government asserts that it will be able to identify all potential suspects," Judge Carlton Reeves wrote in a 30-page order (PDF). "Even so, law enforcement would also have access to the cellular records of countless individuals, the vast majority of whom were merely passing by a location at the 'wrong' time."

"That is an unreasonable search under the Fourth Amendment," the judge concluded.

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A new name has been added to the list of future tropical cyclones for the Asia-Pacific region, including one with a culinary twist

A “Typhoon Dim-sum” could one day be on the horizon after the name was added to the Asia-Pacific region’s official list of tropical cyclone names this week.

It features among nine names to be added to the list of future tropical cyclones, with each name contributed by a country. The names of tropical storms are generally recycled, replacing those which have caused serious casualties and economic loss.

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Ruling comes as part of second phase of landmark trial that found social media company enabled harm against users

A New Mexico court has ordered Meta, the parent company of Facebook, to pay $567m for mental health harm to children from its platforms.

Judge Bryan Biedscheid said the bulk of the money – $420m – would be used for treatment services for young people. The rest will go toward awareness and prevention, screening services and other costs over the next five years.

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PHILIPSBURG (ANP) - Het mariniersdetachement op Sint Maarten heeft woensdag geholpen bij het doorzoeken van de Penitentiaire Inrichting Point Blanche op het eiland. Aanleiding hiervoor was een controle op het bezit van verboden goederen. Daarbij zijn drugs en slag- en steekwapens gevonden, meldt Defensie donderdag.

De mariniers verleenden bijstand op verzoek van de lokale autoriteiten en werkten samen met het Korps Politie Sint-Maarten. Ze droegen tijdens de actie bij aan de veiligheid van medewerkers en gedetineerden. Het ondersteunen van civiele autoriteiten is een van de drie hoofdtaken van Defensie in het Caribisch gebied.

Sint-Maarten kampt al langere tijd met veel criminaliteit. De politie noemt illegaal wapenbezit een van de grootste problemen. Afgelopen tijd vonden verschillende grote verkeerscontroles plaats; ook bij de actie in de gevangenis werd naar wapens gezocht.

RIYAD (ANP) - Bij een aanval van de Houthi's op de Zuid-Saudische grensregio Najran zijn elf burgers gewond geraakt. Dat meldt de door Saudi-Arabië geleide militaire coalitie die de internationaal erkende regering van Jemen steunt.

Onder de gewonden zijn zeven Saudiërs, onder wie een vrouw en een 4-jarig kind dat tweedegraads brandwonden opliep. Ook raakten een Jemeniet, twee Egyptenaren en een Pakistaan gewond, aldus een woordvoerder van de coalitie.

De aanval volgt kort nadat Riyad had gewaarschuwd voor ophanden zijnde aanvallen door de door Iran gesteunde Houthi's en Iraakse milities. Een hooggeplaatste Saudische functionaris zei donderdag tegen Reuters dat inlichtingen wezen op gecoördineerde aanvallen vanuit het zuiden en noorden, onder toezicht van de Iraanse Revolutionaire Garde.

Saudi-Arabië had onder meer waargenomen dat drones en raketten werden verplaatst. Mogelijke doelwitten waren volgens de inlichtingen civiele en economische locaties, waaronder energie-infrastructuur, havens en luchthavens.

ROTTERDAM (ANP) - Bij een brand in een flatgebouw aan de Watertorenweg in Rotterdam is een dode gevallen, zo laat een woordvoerder van de Veiligheidsregio Rijnmond weten.

De brand brak uit op de zevende verdieping van het flatgebouw. Bij aankomst trof de brandweer een man aan achter de voordeur, waarna werd geprobeerd hem te reanimeren. De man overleed niet veel later.

Over de oorzaak van de brand is nog niets bekend, daar doet de politie onderzoek naar. Volgens nieuwssite 112 Rijnmond werden meerdere bewoners van de flat voorafgaand aan de brand opgeschrikt door een explosie.

CARACAS (ANP) - De Venezolaanse regering en de oppositie zijn donderdag in Caracas onder leiding van de Verenigde Staten begonnen aan gesprekken die kunnen leiden tot een politieke overgang en verkiezingen. De onderhandelingen beginnen zeven maanden na de gevangenneming van president Nicolás Maduro door het Amerikaanse leger.

Oppositieleider en Nobelprijswinnaar voor de Vrede María Corina Machado, die in ballingschap leeft, neemt niet deel aan de gesprekken. Washington vreest volgens berichten dat haar terugkeer de regeling met interim-president Delcy Rodríguez in gevaar kan brengen. De voormalige vicepresident bestuurt Venezuela sinds de gevangenneming van Maduro onder zware druk van Washington. Ook probeert ze de olie-industrie nieuw leven in te blazen.

De gesprekken op de militaire basis La Carlota begonnen enkele uren later dan gepland. Vooraf gingen beide delegaties samen op de foto. Ze legden geen verklaringen af.

Parlementsvoorzitter Jorge Rodríguez, de broer van de interim-president, leidt de regeringsdelegatie. De relatief onbekende oud-parlementariër Dinorah Figuera leidt de oppositiedelegatie. Ze keerde op verzoek van Washington terug uit ballingschap.

World Thru Lenz has added a photo to the pool:

Greg Adams Photography posted a photo:

NYC, 2012

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo: