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Regulator, YouTube spar over under-16s ban

US Supreme Court lifts limits on deportations NEW YORK: The US Supreme Court cleared the way on Monday for President Donald Trump’s administration to resume deporting migrants to countries other than their own without offering them a chance to show the harms they could face, handing him another victory in his aggressive pursuit of mass deportations. In an action that prompted a sharp dissent from its three liberal justices, the court granted the administration’s request to lift a judicial order requiring that migrants set for deportation to “third countries” get a “meaningful opportunity” to tell US officials they are at risk of torture at their new destination. Boston-based District Judge Brian Murphy had issued the order on April 18. The Supreme Court’s brief order was unsigned and offered no reasoning, as is common when it decides emergency requests. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by the two other liberal justices, called the decision a “gross abuse” of the court’s power. “Apparently, the court finds the idea that thousands will suffer violence in far-flung locales more palatable than the remote possibility that a district court exceeded its remedial powers when it ordered the government to provide notice and process to which the plaintiffs are constitutionally and statutorily entitled,” Sotomayor wrote. Murphy had found that the administration’s policy of “executing third-country removals without providing notice and a meaningful opportunity to present fear-based claims” likely violates the US Constitution’s due process protections. Due process generally requires the government to provide notice and an opportunity for a hearing before taking certain adverse actions. After the Department of Homeland Security moved in February to step up rapid deportations to third countries, rights groups filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of a group of migrants seeking to prevent their removal to such places without notice and to gain chance to assert the harms they could face. – Reuters El Salvador court rebuffs Venezuelan request SAN SALVADOR: El Salvador’s top court has rejected a bid by Venezuela to intervene on behalf of 252 imprisoned Venezuelan migrants deported by the United States. The emailed request in the name of Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab was “declared inadmissible due to a failure to comply with the essential requirements”, according to the ruling by the Supreme Court’s constitutional chamber. Saab called the ruling “shameful” and a “delaying and evasive manoeuvre”. Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro echoed that frustration, saying “after 80 days, they respond to our communique to reaffirm ... that they have kidnapped and hidden” 252 migrants. The top court also gave a law firm hired by Caracas to defend the incarcerated migrants three days to provide more information to support a habeas corpus petition it filed at the end of March seeking their release. The Venezuelans were expelled by the United States to El Salvador in March after being accused of being members of the Tren de Aragua criminal gang, a charge that their families and lawyers deny. President Donald Trump invoked rarely used wartime laws to fly migrants to the Central American nation without holding any court hearings. – AFP

o Push to overturn proposed exemption

contradictory advice, which discounted the government’s own research which found 69% of parents considered the video platform suitable for people under 15. “The eSafety commissioner chose to ignore this data, the decision of the Australian government and other clear evidence from teachers and parents that YouTube is suitable for younger users,” wrote Rachel Lord, YouTube’s public policy manager for Australia and New Zealand. Inman Grant, asked about surveys supporting a YouTube exemption, said she was more concerned “about the safety of children and that’s always going to surpass any concerns I have about politics or being liked or bringing the public onside”. A spokesperson for Communications Minister Anika Wells said the minister was considering the online regulator’s advice and her “top priority is making sure the draft rules fulfil the objective of the Act and protect children from the harms of social media”. – Reuters

Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok have argued such an exemption would be unfair. eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said she wrote to the government last week to say there should be no exemptions when the law takes effect. She said the regulator’s research found 37% of children aged 10 to 15 reported seeing harmful content on YouTube – the most of any social media site. “This is not a fair fight where our kids are concerned, vis-a-vis social media sites,” Inman Grant told the National Press Club in Sydney. She said social media companies deployed “persuasive design features” like recommendation-based algorithms and notifications to keep users online and “YouTube has mastered those, opaque algorithms driving users down rabbit holes they’re powerless to fight against”. YouTube, in a blog post, accused Inman Grant of giving inconsistent and

SYDNEY: Australia’s internet watchdog and YouTube exchanged barbs yesterday after the regulator urged the government to reverse a planned exemption for the Alphabet-owned video-sharing platform from its world-first teen social media ban. The quarrel adds an element of uncertainty to the December rollout of a law being watched by governments and tech leaders around the world as Australia seeks to become the first country to fine social media firms if they fail to block users aged under 16. The centre-left Labor government of Anthony Albanese has previously said it would give YouTube a waiver, citing the platform’s use for education and health. Other social media companies such as

A wildfire moving towards the village of Zyfias on Chios island on Monday. – AFPPIC

Greece declares emergency on Chios island ATHENS: Greece on Monday declared a state of emergency on Chios island, where hundreds of firefighters have been battling wildfires for a second day as winds further whipped up the blaze, causing power cuts and the evacuation of residents. Aegean Sea, who were trying to prevent the conflagration from spreading to homes and areas known for producing mastiha, a natural resin harvested from mastic trees. Thirty more vehicles will reinforce 38 vehicles already deployed, assisted by 13 helicopters and four water bomber aircraft, Kefalogiannis said.

investigate the causes of the fires which broke out at different geographical parts of the island. Sitting at Europe’s hot southernmost tip, Greece has felt the economic and environmental impact of frequent wildfires in recent years that scientists say have been exacerbated by a fast-changing climate. The country has spent hundreds of millions of euros to compensate households and farmers for damage related to extreme weather and to update firefighting equipment. It has hired a record number of firefighters this year, some 18,000 of them, in anticipation of a challenging fire season. – Reuters

“The situation since the weekend on the island is quite difficult because we constantly have new fronts and resurgences and the weather conditions are not favourable,” said Civil Protection Minister Yiannis Kefalogiannis in Chios. He confirmed that 170 more firefighters will reinforce 11 teams of about 190 firefighters deployed on the island in the northeastern

Wind gusts complicated efforts to extinguish the wildfires, which have razed forest and pasture land as they barrel towards the north, west and south of Chios town, the island’s capital, causing power cuts and forcing hundreds of villagers to flee to safety. Kefalogiannis said the authorities will