New York’s attorney general says three companies accused of falsifying millions of public comments to support the contentious 2017 federal repeal of net neutrality rules have agreed to pay $615,000 in penalties to New York and other states

A federal judge has blocked key agencies within President Joe Biden’s administration from communicating with social media companies about certain online speech in an extraordinary ruling as part of an ongoing case that could have profound impacts on the First Amendment. The preliminary injunction granted by Donald Trump-appointed US District Judge Terry A Doughty in Louisiana on 4 July prohibits the FBI and the US Department of Health and Human Services, among others, from speaking with platforms for “the purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech.” The ruling – which could obstruct the administration’s attempts to combat false and potentially dangerous claims about vaccines and elections – is a victory for Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri who have alleged that the federal government was overreaching in its attempts to combat Covid-19 disinformation and baseless election fraud narratives. Judge Doughty, who has yet to issue a final ruling, stated in his injunction that the Republican plaintiffs “have produced evidence of a massive effort by Defendants, from the White House to federal agencies, to suppress speech based on its content.” He did make some exceptions that would allow the government to warn platforms about national security threats, criminal activity or voter suppression. The legal challenge follows ongoing allegations from right-wing officials and Republican lawmakers that the federal government – specifically, Democratic officials – have conspired with “Big Tech” to silence conservative voices, a long-running conspiracy theory that proponents will argue is substantiated by the latest decision. GOP attorneys general in the case have accused government agencies of a “systemic and systematic campaign” to control speech on social media platforms that accelerated during the Trump administration and experienced a “quantum leap” under President Biden. Attorneys for the Biden administration have disputed such claims and warned that an injunction could undermine national security efforts, pointing to the programs developed among government agencies to combat disinformation in the aftermath of the 2016 election. The Independent has requested comment from the White House. Missouri’s Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who originally filed the lawsuit with Louisiana’s Attorney General Jeff Landry, called the ruling a “big win for the First Amendment on this Independence Day.” Though the case originated with those Republican officials, several additional plaintiffs added their name to the case, arguing that they also were unfairly targeted after spreading disinformation online. Plaintiffs also include vaccine conspiracy theorist and presidential hopeful Robert F Kennedy Jr and Jim Hoft, the founder of the far-right conspiracy theory-fuelled website The Gateway Pundit and a defendant in a defamation lawsuit filed by election workers who faced death threats over false reporting about them in the 2020 presidential election. This is a developing story Read More Twitter applies temporary reading limits amid ongoing problems with platform Biden renews call for assault weapons ban after ‘tragic and senseless’ spate of July 4 shootings Ex-New York congressman pardoned by Trump is planning to run again in Florida Suspicious powder found at the White House when Biden was gone was cocaine, AP sources say Biden renews call for assault weapons ban after spate of July 4 shootings Watch live: Joe Biden addresses National Education Association

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A former executive at ByteDance, the Chinese company which owns the popular short-video app TikTok, says in a legal filing that some members of the ruling Communist Party used data held by the company to identify and locate protesters in Hong Kong

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Save $83.99: As of July 27, the Shark IQ 2-in-1 robot vacuum and mop is

The number of fires burning in Canada’s top energy-producing province of Alberta declined overnight, bringing some relief to

We’re used to hearing tales of OnlyFans creators who have been disowned by friends and loved-ones over their line of work. But one star of the platform has been left with “family trauma” over her content for a very different reason. Australian model Taila Maddison posted a TikTok on Tuesday detailing how she’d “ruined” her mum’s marriage after uncovering the true identity of her X-rated account's top subscriber. “When I first started my website, I had this customer who was my number one customer, bought every single thing that I sent him, he was pretty much a follower since the beginning,” she began her confession. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter “We would talk every day, he made custom requests – very specific things – and he also had a very specific username on the website.” Within two months, he had spent $2,000 AUD (around £1,000) on raunchy pictures and videos of Taila. It was at this point that someone with the exact same username as the mystery man viewed her TikTok page, and she spotted a note saying that the person was “from [her] contacts.” “I went absolutely mental trying to figure out who this person was from my contacts,” she continued. “I narrowed it down to six people, and one of them was my stepdad. I went with my gut feeling and I messaged the website account and I said, ‘I know who this is.’ “Within two minutes, I got a text from my stepdad saying, ‘Hey Tai, can we talk?’” @ta1laaa Do we need a part 2??? #fup #viral #scandal #drama #tea In a follow-up video, Taila explained that her stepfather had been part of her life since she was 11 years old. “When I caught him, he denied it to all of his friends, and obviously my mum got rid of him straight away,” she confirmed. “But yeah, if you want to talk about family trauma, my stepdad watched me have sex with my partner for two months.” @ta1laaa TRAUMAAAAA #fyp #viral #drama #tea Her two videos racked up nearly two million views in just one day as commentators voiced their horror at the revelation. “That means he's been looking at you in that way since day one..a warning to all mothers here for sure,” one pointed out. “He’s probably still subscribed, but under a different username,” suggested another, to which Taila replied: “His phone is blocked, but [possibly] from another device!” “Are you OK?” asked a third. “That must have been really hard for you emotionally.” “I’m okay now,” Taila responded. “At the time I couldn’t leave the house for a couple of days. I was still working in retail and was too anxious to be at the shopping centre worried that he would be there.” Inevitably, scores of users wanted more details on the kind of content the disgraced stepdad was requesting. So Taila duly obliged in another follow-up. “Like I said, in a previous video, we messaged every single day on the website, and he would make requests almost every single day,” she said. “One of them was to see the underwear that I was wearing every day. At the time I was working still, so I was out of the house five days a week, and he would ask for pictures in the bathroom or the changing rooms of wherever I was. “He also requested that when I was filming solo content at home, that I would not do it in the bathroom or in the shower. He always wanted it to be on my bed or on the floor of my bedroom.” Further underlining the creepiness of his actions, she added: “He had access to this room every single day. He also was helping out do the washing at home with said underwear.” @ta1laaa I cant believe i did this #fyp #viral #drama #scandal Taila later confirmed that she had cut all contact with her now ex-stepdad and had blocked him “from my pages on all platforms”. “I have not heard from him since the day I called him out,” she said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. “He wouldn’t even come into the house to collect his belongings while I was there.” She then urged other OnlyFans creators to get to grips with the fact that it is “highly likely someone from your school, gym, workplace or family is watching your every move”. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 17, 2023--

Shares in the British chip designer Arm will be listed Thursday on New York's Nasdaq exchange in the biggest such offering in two years, a $50 billion wager by principal shareholder...