Meta to pay $375m for child safety
A New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay $375m for misleading users over the child safety of its platforms, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The Jury found the platforms endangering children and exposing them to sexually explicit material and contact with sexual predators. A spokeswoman for Meta said: “We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and are clear about the challenges of identifying and removing bas actors and harmful content. We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online.” The company disagrees with the verdict and intends to appeal.
Eskom still resisting President Cyril Ramaphosa’s TSO
Eskom CEO, Dan Marokane, suggested that the company has not yet accepted the unbundling plan outlined by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his State of the Nation address. Marokane told MP’s that Eskom fully endorsed the process Ramaphosa has outlined. However, the team had yet to do the work that would demonstrate Eskoms’s future sustainability. Eskom is still resisting Ramaphosa’s assertion that the company’s transmission assets be given to an independent Transmission System Operator.
The 15-point plan to end the Iran war
The United States drafted a 15-point plan to help bring the war with Iran to a close. President Donald Trump is pushing talks with Iran, attempting to halt the fighting. The 15-point plan, remaining unclear, delivered to Iran via Pakistan. Trump still muse that any agreement would have to include a prohibition on Iran ever obtaining a nuclear weapon or enriching radioactive material for civilian purposes.
The DA silent on money matters with certain ministers
The Democratic Alliance still made no comment regarding the additional “salaries” that minister John Steenhuisen and Ashor Sarupen receive from the DA, on top of their government salaries. The Constitution prohibits cabinet members from being paid for additional work. Sanusha Naidu, political analyst, said: “How is it presented to the South African Revenue Service if it is said to be a salary or allowance? The Constitution is also very clear about work that ministers do outside their official offices. You simply cannot do that. The DA must answer and the fact that the party is so silent speaks volumes.”
AfriForum requests answers from the Department of Minerals and Petroleum Resources
AfriForum has launched a PAIA application on the exact status of South Africa’s strategic oil reserves while businesses and farmers are sitting with their hands in their hair because the government is “silent as the grave”. AfriForum requested detailed information and clarity about the country’s strategic fuel reserves from the Department of Minerals and Petroleum Resources. Ernst van Zyl, head of public relations at AfriForum, said: “Many people have forgotten that the ANC-led government sold more than 10 million barrels of the country’s strategic oil reserves in the 2015-16 (financial year) and was defrauded in the process.”
BBC, News24, Bloomberg, Netwerk24