New Hampshire and Vermont are among the states suing Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, for contributing to the teen mental health crisis.
New Hampshire’s complaint alleges: “Meta purposefully designed its popular platforms, Facebook and Instagram, to include addictive features with the goal of enticing and prolonging time children spend scrolling on the platforms. Such features include an algorithm intentionally designed to ensure maximum time spent on the platform, infinite scrolling, and ephemeral content. The complaint alleges that when children attempt to step away from using the platforms, Meta bombards them with regular alerts that are intentionally designed to lure them back. These and other features work together to exploit the developmental vulnerabilities of children and trap them into never-ending use that the social media giant knows harms their mental health and well-being.”
“Instagram’s harm to teens, and particularly girls and young women, is well-documented,” said Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark in a news release. “But Meta has denied and downplayed these harmful impacts for continued profits. Meta knowingly designed and developed Instagram features to exploit teens’ vulnerabilities to maximize revenue. This is reprehensible and a violation of Vermont’s Consumer Protection Act. This lawsuit aims to hold Meta accountable.”
The states announced various suits yesterday. NH, VT and six others are filing cases in their respective state courts while more 30 states are involved in federal litigation. – today’s Journal-Opinion
How to Field Dress a Deer – Vermont is one of the most rural states in the country, and Vermonters have a proud heritage of living close to the land. Hunting is highly regulated and provides a way to connect with the land, connect with nature and connect with a healthy, sustainable food source that is rooted in Vermont.
Making the most of the meals provided by deer taken in hunting seasons starts with processing them quickly and correctly which is why the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department has three online videos demonstrating how to process deer. Finding the videos is easy on the Fish and Wildlife website (www.vtfishandwildlife.com). Click on “Hunt” and then “From Field to Freezer.”
The educational videos are titled Field Dressing, Skinning a Deer and Butchering a Deer.
September revenues up – the State’s General Fund, Transportation Fund, and Education Fund receipts for September were a combined $301 million, exceeding the $292.3 million monthly consensus target by $8.7 million, or 3.0%.
General Fund revenues for September totaled $216 million, $15.5 million, or 7.7%, above the consensus cash flow target. The Transportation Fund missed its $28 million September consensus target by -$4.1 million, or -14.7%, yielding only $23.9 million with none of the individual revenue categories achieving their respective consensus monthly targets. Monthly Education Fund revenues of $61.1 million were -$2.6 million, -4.1%, below their September cash flow target.
According to Secretary Kristin Clouser: “Vermont’s first quarter revenue results reflect the variability in our economy. Considering the volatile international scene, an aggressive Federal Reserve and yet another potential federal shutdown, we are relieved to be in a relatively good position heading into the second quarter, but we remain focused on containing costs due to the highly unstable macroeconomic situation.”
UVM/Global Foundries a ‘tech hub’ – A consortium led by the University of Vermont and including GlobalFoundries and the state of Vermont has been designated as one of 31 Tech Hubs by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA), unlocking up to $75M in federal grant funding to further research in semiconductor technology. Advancing Gallium Nitride (GaN) Technology in the Greater Burlington Area was selected by the Tech Hubs program from nearly 400 applications.