LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A tech industry trade group sued Arkansas Friday over two new laws that would place limits on content on social media platforms and would allow parents of children who killed themselves to sue over content on the platforms.

The lawsuit by NetChoice filed in federal court in Fayetteville, Arkansas, comes months after a federal judge struck down a state law requiring parental consent before minors can create new social media accounts. The new laws were signed by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders earlier this year.

“Despite the overwhelming consensus that laws like the Social Media Safety Act are unconstitutional, Arkansas elected to respond to this Court’s decision not by repealing the provisions that it held unconstitutional but by instead doubling down on its overreach,” NetChoice said in its lawsuit.

Arkansas is among several states that have been enacting restrictions on social media, prompted by concerns about the impact on children’s mental health. NetChoice — whose members include TikTok, Facebook parent Meta, and the social platform X — challenged Arkansas’ 2023 age-verification law for social media. A federal judge who initially blocked the law struck it down in March.

Similar laws have been blocked by judges in Florida and Georgia.

A spokesperson for Attorney General Tim Griffin said his office was reviewing the latest complaint and looked forward to defending the law.

One of the new laws being challenged prohibits social media platforms from using a design, algorithm or feature it “knows or should have known through the exercise of reasonable care” would cause a user to kill themself, purchase a controlled substance, develop an eating disorder, develop an addiction to the platform.

The lawsuit said that provision is unconstitutionally vague and doesn’t offer guidance on how to determine which content would violate those restrictions, and the suit notes it would restrict content for both adults and minors. The suit questions whether songs that mention drugs, such as Afroman’s “Because I Got High,” would be prohibited under the new law.

The law being challenged also would allow parents whose children have died by suicide or attempted to take their lives to sue social media companies if they were exposed to content promoting or advancing self-harm and suicide. The companies could face civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation.

NetChoice is also challenging another law that attempts to expand Arkansas’ blocked restrictions on social media companies. That measure would require social media platforms to ensure minors don’t receive notifications between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The measure also would require social media companies to ensure their platform “does not engage in practices to evoke any addiction or compulsive behavior.” The suit argues that the law doesn’t explain how to comply with that restriction and is so broadly written that it’s unclear what kind of posts or material would violate it.

“What is ‘addictive’ to some minors may not be addictive to others. Does allowing teens to share photos with each other evoke addiction?” the lawsuit said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned President Donald Trump Friday to drop what he called a “disrespectful” tone toward Tehran’s supreme leader or face serious consequences. 

In a blunt post on X, Araghchi said if Trump truly wants a deal with Iran, he must show respect instead of insulting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Araghchi wrote that Trump should “put aside the disrespectful and unacceptable tone” toward Khamenei and “stop hurting [Khamenei’s] millions of heartfelt followers.”

IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER SLAMS TRUMP JUST DAYS AFTER US STRIKES ON NUCLEAR SITES

Araghchi wrote, “The complexity and tenacity of Iranians is famously known in our magnificent carpets, woven through countless hours of hard work and patience. But as a people, our basic premise is very simple and straightforward: we know our worth, value our independence, and never allow anyone else to decide our destiny.”

Araghchi’s most provocative line came as he mocked Israel’s reliance on the U.S. during the recent military confrontation. 

“The Great and Powerful Iranian People, who showed the world that the Israeli regime had NO CHOICE but to RUN to ‘Daddy’ to avoid being flattened by our Missiles,” he wrote, referring to U.S. intervention in striking Iranian nuclear sites.

The jab was a pointed reference to the longstanding U.S. and Israeli alliance and a not-so-subtle attempt to portray Israel as weak and dependent.

The post concluded with a clear threat.

“If Illusions lead to worse mistakes, Iran will not hesitate to unveil its Real Capabilities, which will certainly END any Delusion about the Power of Iran. Good will begets good will, and respect begets respect.”

IRAN’S KHAMENEI LAUNCHES BLISTERING ATTACK ON TRUMP AFTER MIDDLE EAST VISIT

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi took to X Friday with a message for President Trump. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Araghchi’s broadside comes just days after the war between Iran and Israel ended and less than a week after U.S. airstrikes ordered by Trump destroyed Iran’s key nuclear sites of Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.

The 12-day conflict ended June 24 under a U.S.-brokered ceasefire, yet postwar tensions remain high. Khamenei declared that Tehran had beaten Israel and even dealt Washington a “slap” in the confrontation.

Trump rejected Khamenei’s victory claims as false and “foolish.” He promptly froze any talk of sanctions relief for Iran in response and claimed he personally stopped Khamenei from being killed during the conflict, writing on Truth Social that he refused to let U.S. or Israeli forces “terminate” the ayatollah despite knowing his secret location. 

A satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows damage at the Fordow enrichment site in Iran after U.S. strikes last weekend. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

Araghchi also rejected President Trump’s recent claim that new nuclear talks were imminent, telling reporters that “there are no negotiations underway” and that Tehran would make decisions “based on our national interests.”

According to Reuters, the foreign minister flatly denied any plans to meet with U.S. officials next week, contradicting Trump’s earlier remarks suggesting diplomacy was back on track.

“I wish the leadership of Iran would realize that you often get more with HONEY than you do with VINEGAR,” wrote Trump on Truth Social. “PEACE!!!”

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

A truck collided with a minibus carrying day labourers, two of whom were 14-year-old girls, to their workplace.

A truck has collided with a minibus carrying workers on a road in Egypt, killing 19 people, most of them teenage girls, according to local officials.

The collision occurred as the workers were heading to work in the early hours of Friday morning on a regional road in the city of Ashmoun in the Nile Delta province of Menoufia, north of the capital Cairo.

The truck collided with the minibus as it carried the labourers to their workplace from their home village of Kafr al-Sanabsa, according to the state-owned newspaper, Akhbar al-Youm.

Most of the workers were teenagers – two of them just 14 – according to a list of the names and ages published by the state-owned daily, Al-Ahram. Egyptian media has dubbed the crash victims “martyrs for their daily bread”.

Some 1.3 million minors are engaged in some form of child labour in Egypt, according to government figures, and accidents often involve underage labourers travelling to work in overcrowded minibuses in rural areas.

Only three people survived the crash on Friday, according to a statement from Egypt’s Ministry of Labour, and they were transferred to the General Ashmoun Hospital.

Egypt’s Labour Minister Mohamed Gebran has ordered authorities to compensate the families of the deceased with up to 200,000 Egyptian pounds (about $4,000) each. Each injured person will also receive 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($400).

Menoufia provincial governor, Ibrahim Abu Leimon, said the cause of the crash would be investigated. Preliminary reports suggest excessive speeding may have been a key factor.

Abu Leimon also called on the country’s Ministry of Transportation to reassess safety measures on the regional road. In April, five members of a single family died in a two-car collision on the same road.

Deadly traffic accidents claim thousands of lives every year across Egypt.

In October 2023, 35 people were killed, at least 18 of whom burned to death, in a “horrific collision” involving a bus and several cars on the Cairo-Alexandria desert road, according to Al-Ahram.