The US Supreme Court on Friday upheld a Texas law requiring pornographic websites to verify visitors’ ages, rejecting arguments that this violates free speech and boosting efforts to protect children from online sexual content.The court’s decision will impact a raft of similar laws nationwide and could set the direction for internet speech regulation as concerns about the impact of digital life on society grow.Texas is one of about 20 US states to institute checks that porn viewers are over 18, which critics argue violate First Amendment free speech rights.Britain and Germany also enforce age-related access restrictions to adult websites, while a similar policy in France was blocked by the courts a week ago.US companies like Meta, meanwhile, are lobbying Washington lawmakers for age-based verification to be carried out by smartphone giants Apple and Google on their app stores.The Texas law was passed in 2023 by the state’s Republican-majority legislature but was initially blocked after a challenge by an adult entertainment industry trade association.A federal district court sided with the trade group, the Free Speech Coalition, saying the law restricted adults’ access to constitutionally protected content.But a conservative-dominated appeals court upheld the age verification requirement, prompting the pornography trade group to take its case to the Supreme Court, where conservatives have a 6-3 supermajority.Under the law, companies that fail to properly verify users’ ages face fines up to $10,000 per day and up to $250,000 if a child is exposed to pornographic content as a result.To protect privacy, the websites aren’t allowed to retain any identifying information obtained from users when verifying ages, and doing so could cost companies $10,000 daily in fines.During arguments in January before the Supreme Court, a lawyer representing the Free Speech Coalition said the law was “overly burdensome” and that its goal could be accomplished using content filtering programs.But Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the mother of seven children, took issue with the efficacy of content filtering, saying that from personal experience as a parent, such programs were difficult to maintain across the many types of devices used by kids.Barrett also asked the lawyer to explain why requesting age verification online is any different than doing so at a movie theater that displays pornographic movies.The lawyer for the Free Speech Coalition — which includes the popular website Pornhub that has blocked all access in some states with age verification laws — said online verification was different as it leaves a “permanent record” that could be a target for hackers.During the court’s hearing of the case in January, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Clarence Thomas, both Republican appointees, seemed to suggest that advances in technology might justify reviewing online free speech cases.In 1997, the Supreme Court struck down, in an overwhelming 7-2 decision, a federal online age-verification law in what became a landmark free speech case that set a major precedent for the internet age.

President Donald Trump has escalated his longstanding assault on the mainstream media, denigrating individual reporters and threatening legal action against major outlets over their coverage this week of US military strikes on Iran.Trump has staked significant political capital on the success of last weekend’s strikes, which he ordered despite criticism within his own support base for breaking his campaign promises to avoid foreign military interventions.The president has blasted press coverage of a preliminary classified report from his own administration that suggested that Trump’s claim that Iran’s nuclear facilities were “obliterated” was overstated.The unusually scathing attack on reporters underscores what many observers view as Trump’s effort to put the media — already battling record low public trust — on the defensive and stifle scrutiny of the bombing raid.”Having made the decision to join the fight against Iran, being able to claim that the intervention was brief and successful has obvious political upside for Trump in repairing rifts within his coalition,” Joshua Tucker, co-director of the New York University Center for Social Media and Politics, told AFP.”The discussion by the media of the preliminary intelligence report therefore complicated the president’s preferred narrative about the US attack.”The preliminary intelligence assessment, first reported by CNN and The New York Times, then picked up by other mainstream media, suggested that the strikes may not have destroyed the core parts of the nuclear sites and had set back Iran’s nuclear program by only a few months.Trump said CNN should throw the reporter on the story out “like a dog.” He said CNN and New York Times reporters were “bad and sick people” attempting to demean American pilots involved in the strikes.At a televised news conference on Thursday, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth reiterated the president’s complaints and pushed back on the findings of the report — issued by the US Defense Intelligence Agency –- but did not deny its existence.- ‘Increasingly ugly’ -Both news outlets have stood behind their journalists and defended their reporting.”President Trump and his administration are going after shooting the messengers in an increasingly ugly way,” said CNN’s top political anchor Jake Tapper.”They’re calling journalists ‘fake news’ for true stories,” he added.Trump has also threatened to sue The New York Times and CNN over their coverage of the intelligence report.In a letter, the president’s personal lawyer said the New York Times had damaged Trump’s reputation and demanded that it “retract and apologize” for its report, calling it “false,” “defamatory” and “unpatriotic,” according to the newspaper.The newspaper said it had rejected those demands.”Trump is killing the messenger,” Todd Belt, director of the political management program at George Washington University, told AFP.”He’s taking it out on the press because he knows that the press are unpopular,” particularly among his core Make America Great Again (MAGA) base, he said.”Additionally, he and others in the administration are using the attack line of patriotism to bolster their side against the press.”- ‘Peace through strength’ -The anti-media rhetoric escalates Trump’s longstanding battle with the press.Since the beginning of his second term, his administration has sought to target the finances of media organizations — already struggling in an increasingly tough commercial climate — by cutting government agencies’ news subscriptions.He has also targeted news outlets with multi-million dollar lawsuits.Trump’s latest attacks come amid a public relations campaign to portray himself as a peacemaker in the Middle East, while retaining the support of his core MAGA base.On Friday, Trump doubled down on his stance, stating that Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “got beat to hell” in the hostilities involving the United States and Israel, while exhorting Tehran to return to the negotiating table.”If his ‘peace through strength’ single attack didn’t work and the conflict gets drawn out, this undermines his claim as a peacemaker,” said Belt.”If the public believes the single strike didn’t work, then he will either have to attack again or negotiate from a position that recognizes that Iran still maintains fissile material, which may not work.”

US President Donald Trump’s signature domestic policy bill faced major roadblocks Friday, as his Republicans struggled to overcome differences and many of the spending cuts proposed to pay for his tax breaks were deemed against Senate rules.Trump is hoping to seal his legacy with the so-called “One, Big Beautiful Bill” — extending his expiring first-term tax cuts at a cost of $4.5 trillion and beefing up border security.But Republicans eying 2026 midterm congressional elections are divided over the package, which would strip health care from millions of the poorest Americans and add more than $3 trillion to America’s burgeoning debt pile.Trump ratcheted up pressure on Congress to get the package to his desk by July 4, posting on social media Friday: “We can get it done. It will be a wonderful Celebration for our Country.”Senate Republican leaders had planned to begin a weekend of votes beginning Friday to pass the sprawling legislation but that timetable was in limbo, with negotiations mired in rows.Republicans are using an arcane process called “reconciliation” which allows them to pass the package on a simple majority, without Democratic buy-in.But there are strict rules governing the provisions allowed in such legislation, adjudicated by the chamber’s independent “referee,” Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough.The savings come largely from decimating funding for Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income Americans, but MacDonough called some of those cuts out-of-bounds.That leaves around $250 billion in savings on the cutting room floor, and Republicans scrambling to offset the $4.5 trillion cost of Trump’s tax relief elsewhere. Republicans are split in any case on the Medicaid cuts, which will threaten scores of rural hospitals and lead to an estimated 8.6 million Americans being deprived of health care.Independent analysis also shows that the bill would pave the way for a historic redistribution of wealth from the poorest 10 percent of Americans to the richest.It is unpopular across multiple demographic, age and income groups, according to extensive recent polling. Although the House has already passed its own version, both chambers have to agree on the same text before it can be signed into law.Republican leaders worked Friday to hammer out a version that can get a quick rubber-stamp in the House without returning to the negotiating table.But more than a dozen House Republicans — enough to tank the package — have said they will not vote for the Medicaid cuts. Meanwhile, there are conservatives in both chambers who are adamant that the cuts do not go far enough.”Every Republican senator is committed,” Trump said at a White House press conference Friday.But he acknowledged the bill’s precarious status, telling reporters that “a couple of grandstanders” could derail his plans.”And it’s very dangerous, because our country would go from being the most successful country in the world to, who knows what,” he said.

President Donald Trump said Friday he is calling off trade negotiations with Canada in retaliation for taxes impacting US tech firms, adding that Ottawa will learn of their new tariff rate within a week.Trump was referring to Canada’s digital services tax, which was enacted last year and forecast to bring in Can$5.9 billion (US$4.2 billion) over five years.While the measure is not new, US service providers will be “on the hook for a multi-billion dollar payment in Canada” come June 30, noted the Computer & Communications Industry Association recently.The three percent tax applies to large or multinational companies such as Alphabet, Amazon and Meta that provide digital services to Canadians, and Washington has previously requested dispute settlement talks over the matter.”Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform Friday.He called the country “very difficult” to trade with.Canada may have been spared some of Trump’s most sweeping duties, such as a 10 percent levy on nearly all US trading partners, but it faces a separate tariff regime.Trump has also imposed steep levies on imports of steel, aluminum and autos.Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Ottawa will adjust its 25 percent counter tariffs on US steel and aluminum — in response to a doubling of US levies on the metals to 50 percent — if a bilateral trade deal was not reached in 30 days.”We will continue to conduct these complex negotiations in the best interest of Canadians,” Carney said Friday, adding that he had not spoken to Trump following the US president’s announcement.- China progress -Trump’s latest salvo targeting Canada came shortly after Washington and Beijing confirmed finalizing a framework to move forward on trade.Beijing said Washington would lift “restrictive measures” while China would “review and approve” items under export controls.A priority for Washington in talks with Beijing had been ensuring the supply of the rare earths essential for products including electric vehicles, hard drives and national defense equipment.China, which dominates global production of the elements, began requiring export licenses in early April, a move widely viewed as a response to Trump’s blistering tariffs.The two sides agreed after talks in Geneva in May to temporarily lower steep tit-for-tat duties on each other’s products.China also committed to easing some non-tariff countermeasures but US officials later accused Beijing of violating the pact and slow-walking export license approvals for rare earths.They eventually agreed on a framework to move forward with their Geneva consensus following talks in London this month.A White House official told AFP on Thursday that the Trump administration and China had “agreed to an additional understanding for a framework to implement the Geneva agreement.”This clarification came after the US president told an event that Washington had inked a deal relating to trade with China, without providing details.Under the deal, China “will review and approve applications for the export control items that meet the requirements in accordance with the law,” China’s commerce ministry said.”The US side will correspondingly cancel a series of restrictive measures against China,” it added.- Upcoming deals? -Dozens of economies, although not China, face a July 9 deadline for steeper duties to kick in — rising from a current 10 percent.It remains to be seen if other countries facing the higher US tariffs will successfully reach agreements to avoid them before the deadline.US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday that Washington could wrap up its agenda for trade deals by September, indicating more agreements could be concluded although talks were likely to extend past July.Speaking to Fox Business, Bessent reiterated there are 18 key partners Washington is focused on pacts with.”If we can ink 10 or 12 of the important 18, there are another important 20 relationships, then I think we could have trade wrapped up by Labor Day,” Bessent said, referring to the US holiday on September 1.The White House suggested Thursday the July deadline could be extended, or Trump could pick a tariff rate for countries if there was no agreement.Wall Street’s major indexes, which bounced early Friday on hopes for deals, lost some ground after Trump called off Canada talks.