Ohio
Judge strikes down state law limiting kids’ use of social media as unconstitutional
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A federal judge permanently struck down an Ohio law on Thursday that would have required children and teens under 16 to get parental consent to use social media apps.
U.S. District Court Judge Algenon Marbley’s decision came in a lawsuit filed by NetChoice, a trade group representing TikTok, Snapchat, Meta and other major tech companies. The organization’s complaint argued that the law unconstitutionally impedes free speech and is overly broad and vague.
The state contends the law is needed to protect children from the harms of social media. Marbley said that the state’s effort, while laudable, went too far.
“This court finds, however, that the Act as drafted fails to pass constitutional muster and is constitutionally infirm,” he wrote, adding that even the government’s “most noble entreaties to protect its citizenry” must abide by the U.S. Constitution.
Bethany McCorkle, a spokesperson for Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, said, “We’re reviewing the decision and will determine the next steps.”
The law was originally set to take effect Jan. 15, 2024, but Marbley placed an immediate hold on enforcing it that he later extended. It is similar to ones enacted in other states, including California, Arkansas and Utah, where NetChoice lawsuits have also succeeded in blocking such laws, either permanently or temporarily.
The law seeks to require companies to get parental permission for social media and gaming apps and to provide their privacy guidelines so families know what content would be censored or moderated on their child’s profile.
The Social Media Parental Notification Act was part of an $86.1 billion state budget bill that Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law in July 2023. The administration pushed the measure as a way to protect children’s mental health, with then-Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted saying that social media was “intentionally addictive” and harmful to kids.
Marbley said the law “resides at the intersection of two unquestionable rights: the rights of children to ‘a significant measure of’ freedom of speech and expression under the First Amendment, and the rights of parents to direct the upbringing of their children free from unnecessary governmental intrusion.”
But his opinion cited court precedent that such laws don’t enforce parental authority over their children’s speech, they impose governmental authority over children subject to parental veto.
NetChoice praised Thursday’s ruling.
“The decision confirms that the First Amendment protects both websites’ right to disseminate content and Americans’ right to engage with protected speech online, and policymakers must respect constitutional rights when legislating,” Chris Marchese, NetChoice’s director of litigation, said in a statement.
New York
Drake complains about Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl show in new defamation claims
Hip hop superstar Drake is now complaining about rival rapper Kendrick Lamar’s performance of “Not Like Us” at this year’s Super Bowl, adding it to his defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group over the diss track and its allegations of pedophilia against Drake.
“The Recording was performed during the 2025 Super Bowl and broadcast to the largest audience for a Super Bowl halftime show ever, over 133 million people, including millions of children, and millions more who had never before heard the song or any of the songs that preceded it,” says the amended lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Manhattan.
It adds, “It was the first, and will hopefully be the last, Super Bowl halftime show orchestrated to assassinate the character of another artist.”
Although Lamar removed the word “pedophile” that’s in the track during the halftime show, the fact that it was omitted showed that “nearly everyone understands that it is defamatory,” the suit says. It also alleges Universal Music used financial benefits and leveraged business relationships to secure the headliner spot for Lamar at the Super Bowl, and promoted the performance.
“Drake’s amended complaint makes an already strong case stronger,” his lawyer, Michael Gottlieb, said in a statement. “Drake will expose the evidence of UMG’s
misconduct, and UMG will be held accountable for the consequences of its ill-conceived decisions.”
This year’s Super Bowl and its halftime show were the most-watched ever, according to Nielsen.
In a statement responding to the court filing, Universal Music, the parent record label of both artists, continued to deny Drake’s allegations.
“Drake, unquestionably one of the world’s most accomplished artists and with whom we’ve enjoyed a 16-year successful relationship, is being misled by his legal representatives into taking one absurd legal step after another,” the company said. “It is shameful that these foolish and frivolous legal theatrics continue.”
The amended lawsuit also adds that defamatory portions of “Not Like Us” were played at the Grammy Awards in February, when the single won five awards, including song and record of the year. The suit claims that Universal Music also helped secure the Grammy nominations and allowed the song to be played at the ceremony.
Drake sued Universal Music, but not Lamar, for undisclosed damages in January, saying the company published and promoted “Not Like Us” despite its false pedophilia allegations and suggestions that listeners should resort to vigilante justice.
The result, the suit says, was intruders shooting a security guard at Drake’s Toronto home and two attempted break-ins there, online hate and harassment, a hit to his reputation and a decrease in his brand’s value before his contract renegotiation with UMG this year. The amended lawsuit also adds more online comments indicating people believe the pedophilia allegations.
Drake, a 38-year-old Canadian rapper and singer and five-time Grammy winner, and Lamar, a 37-year-old Pulitzer Prize winner with 22 Grammy wins, have been beefing for years. The feud is among the biggest in hip hop in recent years.
The two were occasional collaborators more than a decade ago, but Lamar began taking public jabs at Drake starting in 2013. The fight escalated steeply last year, as both launched diss tracks at each other, including Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”
“Say, Drake, I hear you like ‘em young / You better not ever go to cell block one,” Lamar raps.
In its motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Universal Music says Drake helped fuel the beef with his own inflammatory diss tracks aimed at Lamar.
“Plaintiff, one of the most successful recording artists of all time, lost a rap battle that he provoked and in which he willingly participated,” the motion says. “Instead of accepting the loss like the unbothered rap artist he often claims to be, he has sued his own record label in a misguided attempt to salve his wounds.”
New York
Ex-NYPD officer sentenced to 18 months after conviction for helping China stalk an expat
NEW YORK (AP) — A former New York police sergeant was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in prison in a U.S. case about China’s pursuit of critics abroad, a sentence that came after two members of Congress urged the judge to spare him from time behind bars.
Michael McMahon was convicted in 2023 of contributing to a transcontinental pressure campaign aimed at getting a former Chinese city official to leave the U.S. and return to his homeland. The tactics ranged from Facebook messages to a threatening real-world note on the man’s New Jersey door.
During an hourslong sentencing, McMahon said he was “unwittingly used” by Chinese operatives when he took what he thought was a routine private investigation job in 2016.
“I never thought for one minute I was working for China, stalking anyone. Yet now I’ve lost everything,” McMahon said. “This is such a nightmare.”
He was among 10 people charged in the federal case, which spurred the first trial stemming from U.S. claims about China’s decade-old “Operation Fox Hunt” initiative.
Beijing says it’s about bringing corrupt officials and other criminal fugitives to justice; Washington deems it an exercise in threatening and harassing dissidents across borders.
U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen said McMahon aided “a campaign of transnational repression “ that harmed the targeted man, his family and the United States.
“This type of crime really does threaten our country’s national security,” Chen said. She said the retired New York Police Department officer ignored clear trouble signs when he agreed in 2016 to help find a man named Xu Jin.
Xu, a former official in the city of Wuhan, left China in 2010. Authorities there have accused Xu and his wife of bribery, which they deny. Xu’s wife testified that he was unjustly targeted for rankling the Chinese power structure.
China doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the U.S., so China couldn’t legally force Xu’s return. But he was repeatedly and insidiously pressed to return.
At one point, his octogenarian father was abruptly flown in from China to press him to go back, according to trial evidence. Later, a threatening note was taped to his door telling him to go to prison in China to ensure his family’s well-being.
Brooklyn-based U.S. Attorney John Durham said in a statement Thursday that the ex-officer “went rogue and dishonorably engaged in a scheme at the direction of the People’s Republic of China.” China denies threatening people to make them return.
Through his lawyer, McMahon acknowledged searching law enforcement and government databases and conducting surveillance to gather information on Xu. But the former officer maintained he was told the investigation was for a Chinese construction company hoping to recover embezzled money.
McMahon and his attorney, Lawrence Lustberg, acknowledged Thursday that the investigator missed “red flags.” But his clients deceived him, he didn’t anticipate the things they did to badger Xu, and he wouldn’t have taken the $11,000 job if he had known about China’s alleged involvement, Lustberg insisted, calling McMahon a patriot.
The claim of transnational repression “horrifies him as much as anybody,” Lustberg said.
McMahon, 57, shook his head as the details of his conviction — on charges including acting as an illegal foreign agent and stalking — were recounted. At other points, he wiped his eyes, particularly when his attorney mentioned the death last week of one of McMahon’s eight siblings.
Dozens of his relatives and friends filled benches in the courthouse, and some yelled “shame on you!” and similar remarks at prosecutors as they left the court.
McMahon himself declined to comment. He’s due to report to prison in June, though the date may be extended.
His lawyer said the judge issued “a thoughtful sentence,” adding: “It’s always tragic when someone who’s innocent, and I do think he’s innocent, is sentenced to prison.”
Five people charged in the case remain at large, believed to be in China. Three others pleaded guilty, and co-defendants Zheng Congying and Zhu Yong were convicted alongside McMahon at trial.
Zhu, whose role included helping to hire McMahon, was sentenced to two years behind bars. Zheng, who affixed the note to Xu’s door, got 16 months in prison.
McMahon drew support from U.S. Reps. Mike Lawler and Pete Sessions, both Republicans.
In a June 2024 letter included in a court filing this month, they said they believed McMahon is innocent. Lauding his work and many commendations as an officer before a 2001 injury ended his 14-year NYPD career, the lawmakers asked the judge to consider his “unique circumstances” and not sentence him to prison.
Judge strikes down state law limiting kids’ use of social media as unconstitutional
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A federal judge permanently struck down an Ohio law on Thursday that would have required children and teens under 16 to get parental consent to use social media apps.
U.S. District Court Judge Algenon Marbley’s decision came in a lawsuit filed by NetChoice, a trade group representing TikTok, Snapchat, Meta and other major tech companies. The organization’s complaint argued that the law unconstitutionally impedes free speech and is overly broad and vague.
The state contends the law is needed to protect children from the harms of social media. Marbley said that the state’s effort, while laudable, went too far.
“This court finds, however, that the Act as drafted fails to pass constitutional muster and is constitutionally infirm,” he wrote, adding that even the government’s “most noble entreaties to protect its citizenry” must abide by the U.S. Constitution.
Bethany McCorkle, a spokesperson for Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, said, “We’re reviewing the decision and will determine the next steps.”
The law was originally set to take effect Jan. 15, 2024, but Marbley placed an immediate hold on enforcing it that he later extended. It is similar to ones enacted in other states, including California, Arkansas and Utah, where NetChoice lawsuits have also succeeded in blocking such laws, either permanently or temporarily.
The law seeks to require companies to get parental permission for social media and gaming apps and to provide their privacy guidelines so families know what content would be censored or moderated on their child’s profile.
The Social Media Parental Notification Act was part of an $86.1 billion state budget bill that Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law in July 2023. The administration pushed the measure as a way to protect children’s mental health, with then-Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted saying that social media was “intentionally addictive” and harmful to kids.
Marbley said the law “resides at the intersection of two unquestionable rights: the rights of children to ‘a significant measure of’ freedom of speech and expression under the First Amendment, and the rights of parents to direct the upbringing of their children free from unnecessary governmental intrusion.”
But his opinion cited court precedent that such laws don’t enforce parental authority over their children’s speech, they impose governmental authority over children subject to parental veto.
NetChoice praised Thursday’s ruling.
“The decision confirms that the First Amendment protects both websites’ right to disseminate content and Americans’ right to engage with protected speech online, and policymakers must respect constitutional rights when legislating,” Chris Marchese, NetChoice’s director of litigation, said in a statement.
New York
Drake complains about Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl show in new defamation claims
Hip hop superstar Drake is now complaining about rival rapper Kendrick Lamar’s performance of “Not Like Us” at this year’s Super Bowl, adding it to his defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group over the diss track and its allegations of pedophilia against Drake.
“The Recording was performed during the 2025 Super Bowl and broadcast to the largest audience for a Super Bowl halftime show ever, over 133 million people, including millions of children, and millions more who had never before heard the song or any of the songs that preceded it,” says the amended lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Manhattan.
It adds, “It was the first, and will hopefully be the last, Super Bowl halftime show orchestrated to assassinate the character of another artist.”
Although Lamar removed the word “pedophile” that’s in the track during the halftime show, the fact that it was omitted showed that “nearly everyone understands that it is defamatory,” the suit says. It also alleges Universal Music used financial benefits and leveraged business relationships to secure the headliner spot for Lamar at the Super Bowl, and promoted the performance.
“Drake’s amended complaint makes an already strong case stronger,” his lawyer, Michael Gottlieb, said in a statement. “Drake will expose the evidence of UMG’s
misconduct, and UMG will be held accountable for the consequences of its ill-conceived decisions.”
This year’s Super Bowl and its halftime show were the most-watched ever, according to Nielsen.
In a statement responding to the court filing, Universal Music, the parent record label of both artists, continued to deny Drake’s allegations.
“Drake, unquestionably one of the world’s most accomplished artists and with whom we’ve enjoyed a 16-year successful relationship, is being misled by his legal representatives into taking one absurd legal step after another,” the company said. “It is shameful that these foolish and frivolous legal theatrics continue.”
The amended lawsuit also adds that defamatory portions of “Not Like Us” were played at the Grammy Awards in February, when the single won five awards, including song and record of the year. The suit claims that Universal Music also helped secure the Grammy nominations and allowed the song to be played at the ceremony.
Drake sued Universal Music, but not Lamar, for undisclosed damages in January, saying the company published and promoted “Not Like Us” despite its false pedophilia allegations and suggestions that listeners should resort to vigilante justice.
The result, the suit says, was intruders shooting a security guard at Drake’s Toronto home and two attempted break-ins there, online hate and harassment, a hit to his reputation and a decrease in his brand’s value before his contract renegotiation with UMG this year. The amended lawsuit also adds more online comments indicating people believe the pedophilia allegations.
Drake, a 38-year-old Canadian rapper and singer and five-time Grammy winner, and Lamar, a 37-year-old Pulitzer Prize winner with 22 Grammy wins, have been beefing for years. The feud is among the biggest in hip hop in recent years.
The two were occasional collaborators more than a decade ago, but Lamar began taking public jabs at Drake starting in 2013. The fight escalated steeply last year, as both launched diss tracks at each other, including Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”
“Say, Drake, I hear you like ‘em young / You better not ever go to cell block one,” Lamar raps.
In its motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Universal Music says Drake helped fuel the beef with his own inflammatory diss tracks aimed at Lamar.
“Plaintiff, one of the most successful recording artists of all time, lost a rap battle that he provoked and in which he willingly participated,” the motion says. “Instead of accepting the loss like the unbothered rap artist he often claims to be, he has sued his own record label in a misguided attempt to salve his wounds.”
New York
Ex-NYPD officer sentenced to 18 months after conviction for helping China stalk an expat
NEW YORK (AP) — A former New York police sergeant was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in prison in a U.S. case about China’s pursuit of critics abroad, a sentence that came after two members of Congress urged the judge to spare him from time behind bars.
Michael McMahon was convicted in 2023 of contributing to a transcontinental pressure campaign aimed at getting a former Chinese city official to leave the U.S. and return to his homeland. The tactics ranged from Facebook messages to a threatening real-world note on the man’s New Jersey door.
During an hourslong sentencing, McMahon said he was “unwittingly used” by Chinese operatives when he took what he thought was a routine private investigation job in 2016.
“I never thought for one minute I was working for China, stalking anyone. Yet now I’ve lost everything,” McMahon said. “This is such a nightmare.”
He was among 10 people charged in the federal case, which spurred the first trial stemming from U.S. claims about China’s decade-old “Operation Fox Hunt” initiative.
Beijing says it’s about bringing corrupt officials and other criminal fugitives to justice; Washington deems it an exercise in threatening and harassing dissidents across borders.
U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen said McMahon aided “a campaign of transnational repression “ that harmed the targeted man, his family and the United States.
“This type of crime really does threaten our country’s national security,” Chen said. She said the retired New York Police Department officer ignored clear trouble signs when he agreed in 2016 to help find a man named Xu Jin.
Xu, a former official in the city of Wuhan, left China in 2010. Authorities there have accused Xu and his wife of bribery, which they deny. Xu’s wife testified that he was unjustly targeted for rankling the Chinese power structure.
China doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the U.S., so China couldn’t legally force Xu’s return. But he was repeatedly and insidiously pressed to return.
At one point, his octogenarian father was abruptly flown in from China to press him to go back, according to trial evidence. Later, a threatening note was taped to his door telling him to go to prison in China to ensure his family’s well-being.
Brooklyn-based U.S. Attorney John Durham said in a statement Thursday that the ex-officer “went rogue and dishonorably engaged in a scheme at the direction of the People’s Republic of China.” China denies threatening people to make them return.
Through his lawyer, McMahon acknowledged searching law enforcement and government databases and conducting surveillance to gather information on Xu. But the former officer maintained he was told the investigation was for a Chinese construction company hoping to recover embezzled money.
McMahon and his attorney, Lawrence Lustberg, acknowledged Thursday that the investigator missed “red flags.” But his clients deceived him, he didn’t anticipate the things they did to badger Xu, and he wouldn’t have taken the $11,000 job if he had known about China’s alleged involvement, Lustberg insisted, calling McMahon a patriot.
The claim of transnational repression “horrifies him as much as anybody,” Lustberg said.
McMahon, 57, shook his head as the details of his conviction — on charges including acting as an illegal foreign agent and stalking — were recounted. At other points, he wiped his eyes, particularly when his attorney mentioned the death last week of one of McMahon’s eight siblings.
Dozens of his relatives and friends filled benches in the courthouse, and some yelled “shame on you!” and similar remarks at prosecutors as they left the court.
McMahon himself declined to comment. He’s due to report to prison in June, though the date may be extended.
His lawyer said the judge issued “a thoughtful sentence,” adding: “It’s always tragic when someone who’s innocent, and I do think he’s innocent, is sentenced to prison.”
Five people charged in the case remain at large, believed to be in China. Three others pleaded guilty, and co-defendants Zheng Congying and Zhu Yong were convicted alongside McMahon at trial.
Zhu, whose role included helping to hire McMahon, was sentenced to two years behind bars. Zheng, who affixed the note to Xu’s door, got 16 months in prison.
McMahon drew support from U.S. Reps. Mike Lawler and Pete Sessions, both Republicans.
In a June 2024 letter included in a court filing this month, they said they believed McMahon is innocent. Lauding his work and many commendations as an officer before a 2001 injury ended his 14-year NYPD career, the lawmakers asked the judge to consider his “unique circumstances” and not sentence him to prison.
