News Round-Up: US Senate Holds Fauci in Contempt; Burnham Scraps Net Zero For Public Contracts; Meta Fined in New Mexico Over Child Harm
Twice a week, the editorial team of Freedom Research compiles a round-up of news that caught our eye – or what felt like under-reported aspects of news deserving more attention.
Over the past few days, the following topics attracted our attention:
US Senate Panel Holds Fauci in Contempt
Burnham to Scrap Net Zero Rules for Public Contracts
Meta Ordered to Pay Half a Billion Dollars Over Child Harms in New Mexico
US Senate Panel Holds Fauci in Contempt
The US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has approved a motion by Senator Rand Paul to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after the former senior health official refused to answer questions during a Senate hearing, invoking his constitutional right to remain silent more than a hundred times. The hearing was intended to investigate Fauci’s actions and statements during the coronavirus pandemic, reports Reuters.
Senator Paul wrote in the contempt resolution that Fauci had been summoned to give evidence at the Senate committee’s hearing on 29 July. According to Paul, he was to “”to provide testimony concerning matters under consideration by the Committee, including the origins of COVID-19, risky life sciences research, and your tenure as a Federal government employee.” Fauci appeared before the committee and delivered only a prepared statement, but refused to answer most of the questions. In doing so, he invoked the Fifth Amendment more than a hundred times, under which a person has the right to remain silent so as not to incriminate themselves.
In his motion to hold Fauci in contempt, Paul argues that the right to remain silent under the Fifth Amendment was not justified, particularly regarding questions about the period covered by President Joe Biden’s full and unconditional pardon, granted on his final day in office. Biden pardoned Fauci for any offences he might have committed or been involved in by virtue of his office from 1 January 2014 to 19 January 2025. Paul further explained that, during the July hearing, he had repeatedly given Fauci the opportunity to respond and warned that failure to do so could result in a charge of contempt of Congress. Fauci refused and remained silent. According to Fauci, Paul had summoned him solely to force him to admit something that would support the senator’s promises to put him in prison.
Senator Paul has now obtained the committee’s approval to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress. However, such cases typically also require the full Senate’s consent, which would likely need a 60-vote majority. This would presuppose Democratic support, which is highly unlikely in Fauci’s case.
At the same time, Paul has noted that, in his view, a full Senate vote is not necessary, as he has referred the case, together with the legal grounds, directly to the Department of Justice. Should the proceedings continue, the case will reach the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, which will decide whether to seek an indictment from a grand jury.
Furthermore, three states – Louisiana, Florida and Alabama – have launched investigations into Fauci’s actions, and President Biden’s pardon does not preclude state-level charges.
Burnham to Scrap Net Zero Rules for Public Contracts
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham plans to scrap the ‘net zero’ requirements for public procurement contracts. The government now believes that taxpayer-funded procurement contracts are burdened by excessive social requirements, including environmental ones. It is therefore necessary to scale these back to promote economic growth, reports The Telegraph.
Under the government’s plan, from January onwards, the only social requirement for companies in the UK’s £385 billion (€449 billion) public procurement market will be to create jobs and develop skills. The government is abandoning the current lengthy list of requirements, which includes a rule that bidders for major public contracts must commit to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Companies must set out their actions in a carbon reduction plan.
According to First Secretary of State Louise Haigh, the government wishes to focus on creating new jobs and developing skills. “We are stripping back what’s known as social value to focus it ruthlessly on that priority. For too long, [public] procurement has tried to tick too many boxes. If you prioritise everything, then you’re prioritising nothing,” Haigh said. She explained that there are currently a huge number of conditions relating to carbon neutrality and the environment. But among the so-called social requirements, however, are also a host of provisions that are almost impossible to verify – for example, how a company combats domestic violence or improves high streets. The long list of social rules has ultimately become rather vague. Haigh added that large companies could exploit the system, whilst small and medium-sized enterprises were left out due to the complexities involved.
Prime Minister Burnham has stated that he wishes to focus on local economic growth. In public procurement, the plan is therefore to award more points to companies that create local jobs paying above the minimum wage and offer work experience.
Meta Ordered to Pay Half a Billion Dollars Over Child Harms in New Mexico
A court in the US state of New Mexico ruled that Meta had caused a “public nuisance” that harmed children’s mental health and ordered Meta to pay $567 million (€492 million) for the harms caused. It also required Meta to redesign safety features on Facebook and Instagram, reports Deutsche Welle.
This is the second major fine a New Mexico court has imposed on Meta. In March, the company was ordered to pay $375 million (€326 million) after a jury found it had breached the state’s consumer protection law by misleading the public about the safety of its platforms for children. In total, New Mexico is seeking $942 million (€818 million) from Meta.
Meta has five years to pay the latest sum. Roughly three-quarters ($420 million/€365 million) will fund mental health treatment for young people. The rest will support prevention projects, screening programmes and other services.
The court also ordered Meta to change the technical architecture of Facebook and Instagram. Measures include usage time limits for teenagers, tighter controls on notifications, stronger safeguards for adult-minor interactions, better monitoring of artificial intelligence, and improved handling of child sexual abuse cases. Meta must work with schools on a flagging system for underage users and delete data it holds on children under 13. The court directed Meta to improve age verification, including through AI-based solutions, while complying with data-protection rules that limit collecting children’s personal data solely for age checks.
Meta has said it will appeal the ruling. “We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and have been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content,” the company stated, adding that it remains confident in its record of protecting teenagers online.
Although the New Mexico award is substantial, it is still only a fraction of Meta’s annual profit of roughly $60 billion (€52 billion).