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Snap seeks to dismiss New Mexico lawsuit over child safety

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Snap seeks to dismiss New Mexico lawsuit over child safety


By Sheila Dang

(Reuters) – Snap on Thursday filed a motion to dismiss a New Mexico lawsuit that alleged the tech company enabled child sexual exploitation on its messaging app Snapchat, arguing there were inaccuracies to the state’s investigation.

The lawsuit, brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez in September, is among a series of efforts by U.S. lawmakers to hold tech companies accountable for harm to minors who use their services. In January, U.S. senators grilled the CEOs of Snap, Meta Platforms, TikTok, X and Discord, accusing the companies of failing to protect children from abuse and “sextortion,” in which predators coerce minors into sending explicit photos or videos.

As part of a months-long investigation, New Mexico set up a decoy account for a 14-year-old girl, which investigators said did not add any friends but quickly received suggestions from Snapchat to add users with explicit account names.

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In a filing in the first judicial court of New Mexico, Snap said the allegations were “patently false” and that the decoy account proactively sent many friend requests to certain users, contrary to the state’s claims.

New Mexico’s lawsuit also accused Snap of failing to warn children and parents of the dangers of sextortion on Snapchat. The Santa Monica, California-based company responded that the claims were barred by the First Amendment because Snap cannot be compelled to speak.

“Not only would Snap be required to make subjective judgments about potential risks of harm and disclose them, but it would have to do so with virtually no guidance about how to avoid liability in the future,” Snap said in the filing.

The state’s lawsuit is also a clear violation of Section 230, a portion of a 1996 law that protects online platforms from civil liability over content posted by users and third parties, Snap said.

The company added it has doubled the size of its trust and safety team and tripled its law enforcement operations team since 2020.

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(Reporting by Sheila Dang in Austin, Texas; Editing by Matthew Lewis)



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New Mexico

Camila, Noah rise to top of New Mexico baby names rankings

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Camila, Noah rise to top of New Mexico baby names rankings





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New Mexico weather alert: Dense fog and snow expected along I-40 this week – Travel And Tour World

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New Mexico weather alert: Dense fog and snow expected along I-40 this week – Travel And Tour World



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New Mexico weather alert: Dense fog and snow expected along I-40 this week – Travel And Tour World




































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Albuquerque bakery struggles to keep up with biscochito demand during holiday season

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Albuquerque bakery struggles to keep up with biscochito demand during holiday season


For Celina’s Biscochitos that means making double if not three times more biscochitos to make sure locals and people nationwide have a sweet taste of New Mexico tradition.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – If you’re from New Mexico, there’s a popular sweet treat that will be on the dessert table this holiday season, biscochitos.

While you can buy them year-round, the holidays are especially busy for bakeries who specialize in making them.

For Celina’s Biscochitos that means making double if not three times more biscochitos to make sure locals and people nationwide have a sweet taste of New Mexico tradition.

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“We probably do on average about anywhere from about, this year, probably about maybe 400 to 600 dozen a day,” said Celina Grife, co-owner of Celina’s Biscochitos. 

It’s no easy job making biscochitos.

For the past 14 years, Celina’s Biscochitos has been making her grandma’s recipe. This year, just like the rest, there is a high demand for our state’s official cookie, especially during the holidays.

“We’re just trying to keep up with the demand. So everyday by the end of the day, we’re just trying to scramble to make sure that we have enough cookies on the shelf for our customers, so that way they can pick them up at the end of the day,” said Grife. 

They’re making anywhere from 4,000 to over 7,000 cookies a day. That’s two to three times more than what they usually make outside of the holiday season.

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Over the years, Grife has added more than just their traditional cookie.

“Our very first flavor was the red chile biscochito. And then one thing lead to another, we just started playing with it,” Grife said. 

Now they offer red and green chile, lemon, blue corn pinion and chocolate chip. This isn’t just the unique, different flavors they offer, it’s the tradition they carry on.

“We are one of the few commercial companies that are still making them the traditional way. So we still use lard, and by lard, I mean the old-fashioned blue and white container that everybody uses at home,” said Grife. “We still use brandy in our product as well. We still use the old fashion anise.”

One thing Grife has learned over the years is that for some people, a biscochito is much more than just a cookie.

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“This is very personal to people, and I had no idea how personal it was to people. I could be working at an event, and I’ll have people say, ‘No, I can’t have yours because my mom or my aunt or my uncle.’ Whatever! Somebody makes them in the family,” said Grife. “Or we get somebody who doesn’t have that family member with them anymore, and they try ours, and they’re kind of like, ‘This brings back so many memories.’”

Grife says their goal is to keep that traditional biscochito flavor and texture, in every cookie they make.



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