SEC to require climate-change risk disclosures under new plan
Companies will need to reveal detailed information about their greenhouse gas pollution under a new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission plan, marking a major shift in how corporations must show they are dealing with climate change.
For the first time ever, the agency plans to require businesses to outline the risks a warming planet poses to their operations when they file registration statements, annual reports or other documents. Some large companies will have to provide information on emissions they don’t make themselves, but come from other firms in their supply chain.
The proposal, which the watchdog is considering on Monday, sets up a major clash with industry lobbyists and Republican politicians who argue the regulations are outside the SEC’s jurisdiction. Liberal lawmakers, environmental advocates and the SEC, however, say mom-and-pop investors need the information to make informed decisions.
“Over the generations, the SEC has stepped in when there’s significant need for the disclosure of information relevant to investors’ decisions,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement. “Today’s proposal would help issuers more efficiently and effectively disclose these risks.”
—Bloomberg News
Miami jail officer faces rare prosecution under ‘revenge porn’ law
MIAMI — A Miami-Dade corrections officer has been relieved of duty after he was arrested for allegedly posting explicit images of his ex-wife on Twitter.
Teddy Joseph, 39, was charged last week under Florida’s “revenge porn” law, which makes cyber sexual harassment a first-degree misdemeanor. The law was first passed in 2015 aimed at combating the proliferation of people posting sexual photos and video of their ex-partners.
The law, however, has been used sparingly across Florida. Lawmakers this month did pass a law criminalizing “deep fakes,” images doctored to appear as pornographic ones, and making the theft of explicit images a felony. The law — which is awaiting the signature of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — also provides for a victim of revenge porn to go to civil court and get damages of up to $10,000, up from $5,000.
Joseph and his ex-wife are both corrections officers. According to an arrest report, Joseph created a Twitter account in June 2019, when the two were still married, posting nude photos and videos of the woman “as well as other unknown women.”
—Miami Herald
Document detailing MLB investigation into Yankees cheating will be unsealed
NEW YORK — A 2017 document detailing a Major League Baseball investigation into allegations of cheating by the New York Yankees will be unsealed, an appeals court ruled Monday.
The decision by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals represents a legal defeat for the Bronx Bombers, who fought to keep the report under wraps.
The document reportedly addresses accusations that the Yankees used YES Network cameras to steal signs.
The three-judge panel concluded that MLB’s acknowledgment of the investigation in a 2017 press release undermined the Yankees’ arguments the report should stay secret.
“MLB voluntarily disclosed major portions of the content and pertinent conclusions of the internal investigation,” the court wrote.
—New York Daily News
Russia bans Facebook and Instagram under ‘extremism’ law
A Moscow court banned Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook and Instagram in Russia Monday, in what was the first use of the country’s sweeping law on “extremism” against a foreign technology company.
The presiding judge backed the prosecutor’s request to ban the social networks with immediate effect, ruling their activities “extremist,” according to the court’s official Telegram channel. The prosecutor had argued that Meta’s policies were directed against Russia and its army, state-run Tass reported.
A lawyer for Meta said the Russian court didn’t have the authority to rule in the case because Meta is a foreign-registered company without a domestic presence, Interfax reported from the hearing. A spokesperson for Meta didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.
It marks the latest escalation against the company since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. Russian regulators blocked access to Facebook and Instagram earlier this month. The designation would make it possible to bring criminal charges against employees in Russia but the company has none.
—Bloomberg News
