US NEWS:

WASHINGTON, DC: Former US vice-president Al Gore says he is seeking legal advice on two recent court decisions that blame major global tech companies for problems linked to online activities.

A jury in New Mexico ordered Meta – the parent company of Facebook and Instagram – to pay damages of US$375m for providing online products that led to child sexual exploitation and, in a separate case, a California jury fined You Tube and Meta US$6m for offering products that were deliberately addictive to young social media users.

Mr Gore (centre above) said he wanted to ensure his band, the Al Gore Rhythms, were not impacted by the rulings.

“As the person who invented the internet I always take a great interest in these types of cases,” Mr Gore said.

“I only heard radio reports of the two cases last week but all the news stories mentioned my band – a lot.

“I would hate to think that I and my bandmates, former presidents Bill Clinton and Joe Biden, would have our activities curtailed or, even worse, be forced to pay millions of dollars in fines if we are taken to court.

“I’m no lawyer… no, hang on, I am. Anyway, I thought it best to seek some expert advice on this issue so I’ve engaged a law firm to examine both rulings.”

Mr Gore said he formed his band after tapping the talents of the 39th and 42nd US presidents.

“The idea came to me one day during a music lesson I was taking on the double bass,” he said.

“I’d taken up the instrument to give me something to do while dealing with the, may I say, very intransigent and unhelpful US National Archives on plans for my presidential library.

“At that time I had lots of time on my hands so I rang up Bill [Clinton] and Jimmy [Carter] and we started the band. After Jimmy died I rang Joe Biden and asked him to join.

“I think it’s pretty unique having three former US presidents in one band. Unfortunately for me, of course, after the 2000 election our Supreme Court decided that George W Bush was better placed to actually serve my first term.

“Naturally that put him in a pretty strong position to serve out my second presidential term too. But that’s all water under the bridge.”

Mr Gore said he was optimistic about the legal advice he was yet to receive.

“My gut feeling is that my band won’t be affected by the court rulings,” he said. “After all, we specialise in original compositions in improvisational free jazz, and let’s be frank, that’s hardly addictive.”

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