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A new ICE policy requires members of Congress to seek advanced approval in order to speak with detainees during oversight inspections at detention facilities. LA Times
Socialist AOC is taking a strength of American society — its openness to talent and innovation — and portraying it as a fundamental problem. New York Post
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s controversial plan to open city-owned grocery stores is set for an explosive City Council hearing – as a new, immigrant-led business group has built a $1 million-plus war chest to oppose it. New York Post
Jonathan Haidt, a professor, says that colleges shield students from challenging ideas. But student leaders said he does not represent their values. New York Times
Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska became the latest Republican to switch her vote to halt the conflict and require President Trump to win congressional approval to continue it. New York Times
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In a dispute over vapes, the president sided with tobacco companies that filled his groups’ coffers over his own F.D.A. commissioner, who resigned in protest. New York Times
The government must return about $160 billion, plus interest, collected from duties deemed illegal and potentially more if it loses a related tariff case. New York Times
Joe Ceballos said he did not know he was ineligible to vote and run for office as a green-card holder. The Trump administration has drawn attention to the case. New York Times
The deliberations are a sign that the Trump administration may once again try to harness the power of the I.R.S. to advance its immigration agenda. New York Times
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During a Tuesday hearing on the 2027 fiscal year Pentagon budget, President Donald Trump criticized Republican aide Robert Karem for an awkward interruption that he argued made Kentucky GOP Senator Mitch McConnell appear "foolish and completely out of it." OANN
Republican lawmakers in Louisiana have advanced a plan to eliminate one of two majority-Black congressional districts after a Supreme Court ruling struck down the state’s map as a racial gerrymander. OANN
Democrat-led states are refusing to issue vehicle registrations to ICE officers working undercover, the Justice Department said Wednesday, accusing the states of putting criminals ahead of agents' safety. Washington Times
A New Hampshire woman says Planet Fitness revoked her membership after she complained about encountering someone she believed was male in the women's locker room -- the latest in a string of disputes over the gym chain's transgender access policy. Washington Times
About 70,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year - about 14% fewer than the previous year, according to preliminary government data. Washington Times
Federal intelligence officials on Tuesday coordinated with law enforcement authorities to go over security protocols before the FIFA World Cup kicks off next month. Washington Times
Soaring inflation, rising gasoline prices and crushing housing costs have pressured Republicans in Congress to make an emergency pivot to affordability measures as they face an increasingly dissatisfied electorate that could boot them out of the majority after November. Washington Times
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A hormonal condition affecting 1 in 8 women around the world just got a new name in hopes of improving care. It Is now called polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome instead of polycystic ovary syndrome. Washington Times
Gas station chain Buc-ee's, based in Texas with locations in 11 other states, is opening its first stores in Arizona and Arkansas this year, and four more states next year. Washington Times
Researchers say the U.S. is experiencing a "reading recession" that predates the pandemic. But some places are bucking the trend, chalking up higher test scores. CBS
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defended the Pentagon's budget request of $1.5 trillion on Tuesday. At a separate hearing, FBI Director Kash Patel faced questions about his alcohol use and personal behavior. CBS
The operator of the Dali, a container ship that lost power and slammed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge in 2024, killing six people, is facing federal charges. CBS
Makary's tenure was marked by internal dysfunction at the FDA, leadership turmoil and mounting backlash from drugmakers and physicians on regulatory decisions. CNBC
ICE agents in Houston arrested a Vietnamese national convicted of attempted capital murder of a police officer who evaded deportation since 2011. FOX News
Video shows a Chicago police cruiser being rammed during a teen takeover as aldermen demand more arrests and consequences for participants involved. FOX News
The United States announced visa restrictions on 13 people linked to a U.S.-sanctioned, India-based online pharmacy accuses of selling Americans fentanyl-laced pills. UPI
Farmers and lawmakers called on the Trump administration during a Senate committee hearing Tuesday to lift duties on imported phosphate fertilizer. UPI
VOA VIEW -- Is the opinion of "Voice of Americans", which is a private entity not affiliated in any way with the United States government or any of its agencies. The opinions expressed here, in whatever medium or format, are not necessarily the opinions of the ownership or advertisers of this web site - 0415.
For the last three decades, internet giants have been able to avoid legal exposure for content on their platforms, thanks to a law that differentiates the companies from online publishers. But those safeguards appear to be weakening. Change has long been needed.
Meta and Google, which dominate the U.S. digital ad market, find themselves as defendants in a host of lawsuits that collectively serve to undermine the long-held notion that they have legal protection for what surfaces on their sites, apps and services. Companies like TikTok and Snap are in the same predicament.
The unifying aspect of the recent cases is that they’re crafted to circumventSection 230of the Communications Decency Act, which Congress passed in 1996 and President Bill Clinton signed into law. Established in the early days of the internet, the law protects websites from being sued over content posted by their users, and allows them to act as moderators without being held liable for what stays up.
Last week, a jury in New Mexicofound Meta liable in a case involving child safety, while jurors in Los Angeles held the Facebook parent and Google’s YouTubenegligentin a personal injury trial. Days after those verdicts were revealed, victims of the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein filed aclass action lawsuitagainst Google and the Trump administration over allegations related to the wrongful disclosure of personal information.
In that complaint, the plaintiffs argue that Google’s AI Mode, which serves up AI-powered summaries and links, is “not a neutral search index,” a clear effort to make the case that Google isn’t just a platform sitting between users and the information they seek. “The plaintiffs’ bar is winning the war against section 230 through systematic, relentless litigation that is causing there to be divots and chinks in its protection,” said Eric Goldman, a law professor at Santa Clara University School of Law, in an interview.
The stakes are massive as the technology sector exits the era of traditional online search and social networking and enters a world defined by artificial intelligence, where models designed by the owners of the largest platforms are serving up conversational chats, pictures and videos that can range from controversial to potentially illegal. The financial penalties to date have been minimal — less than $400 million in damages between the two verdicts last week — but the cases establish a troubling precedent for tech giants that are betting their future on AI.
“For so long, tech companies have used Section 230 as an excuse to avoid taking meaningful action to protect users, but especially kids from egregious harms, harassment and abuse, frauds and scams,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said in March during a U.S. Senate Commerce Committee hearing tied to the 30th anniversary of Section 230. “It’s not that they don’t know what’s happening or even why it’s happening. It’s that to do something about it would be to hurt their bottom line. And so long as federal law provides a shield, why even bother?” Meta declined to comment for this story. Google didn’t respond to a request for comment. Both companies said they plan to appeal last week’s verdicts.
