Judge Upholds Texas TikTok Ban on Government Devices

A federal judge in Texas on Monday upheld a ban that prevented state employees from using TikTok, the Chinese-owned short-form video app, on government devices and networks, rejecting a challenge by lawyers who argued that the prohibition had violated the First Amendment. The ban was challenged in July by the Knight First Amendment Institute at …

France to Ban Smoking in Forests, on Beaches and Near Schools

France will ban smoking on beaches, near public buildings like schools and in public parks and forests next year, the French government said on Tuesday, as it unveiled plans to curb the habit by making it slightly more expensive and far less attractive, especially to younger people. “We have won battles,” Aurélien Rousseau, France’s health …

New Zealand’s New Government Says It Will Scrap Smoking Ban

New Zealand’s new right-wing government has said it will repeal a law that would have gradually banned all cigarette sales in the country over the course of several decades. The law, passed by a previous government led by Jacinda Ardern, a prime minister who became an international liberal icon, took effect this year and was …