The state of New Hampshire is a great place except for family court, election integrity, too much dependence on federal money, institutionalized child-sex predation, electricity prices, and jackpot justice. Wow, Steve, that sounds like a terrible place. It’s not awful. Better than most. We have a low total tax burden, increasing liberty, and a great history, and it’s trying to be better. But it has been compared to a closely held criminal organization. A state “run” by a cabal we refer to colloquially as the five families.
There are a ton of assets hidden here (Panama Papers). We had the FRM scandal, and now the Sununu center thing is missing. We’re also terribly fond of Jackpot justice. That’s when the state sues some “big thing” and collects payday. The State sued oil companies over MTBE contamination of groundwater. Gas station tank leaks. The oil companies didn’t own the stations or tanks; MTBE was federally mandated and EPA-approved. And there’s a big pile of cash set aside by the feds for the very purpose of complications from tank leaks. NH sued, and the defendants settled. NH got a big check.
New Hampshire is suing META now.
The State’s lawsuit accuses Meta of knowingly uses (sp) addictive design features and algorithms on its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, to encourage compulsive use by teenagers, causing harm to their mental health and well-being. With over 10 million under-18 users on Facebook and 32 million on Instagram in the United States, including a significant number in New Hampshire, the State alleges that Meta has intentionally deployed these harmful design features, profiting from user data and selling targeted advertising.
Meta tried to get the case dismissed, but the court said no. Merrimack County Superior Court. They work for the government, too. And I’m not saying Meta shouldn’t cough up some cash. Those bastards owe me money for wrongfully throttling our ads and content. It cost us a lot of page views, which means ad revenue, sponsored content value, and other benefits of online reach.
Many, many thousands of dollars annually/
I’ll be happy if someone gets them to loosen the “community standard BS” thumbscrews and call it a day. But New Hampshire loves its jackpot justice, so my advice to Meta is a quiet private meeting where they slip the state a check without admitting wrongdoing and an agreement the state won’t sue them for this again. A few hundred million ought to do. That’s Zuckerberg’s yacht couch-cushion money we won’t have to pay whatever high-powered lawyers the state intends to hire to wring Meta’s scrawny censorious neck, though not for censorship, which is the greater harm, in my opinion.
And there are a lot more “young people” on Discord, Reddit, TikTok, and other platforms than Meta (which is for old people). Places where they are groomed and bullied and made to feel like suicide might be a good idea. If you were serious about internet-related harm to children, you could start there, but no. You could even go after Facebook for the grooming and sex predator element, but no. again. New Hampshire is worried about harmful design features and ads.
This is about money, and Meta is a big target. In my opinion, children’s safety has little or nothing to do with this.
