Business Briefs – May 13, 2019

Jury: Monsanto to Pay $2 Billion In Weed Killer Cancer Case

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – A jury ordered agribusiness giant Monsanto Co. to pay a combined $2.05 billion to a couple who claimed the company’s popular weed killer Roundup Ready caused their cancers.

The Oakland jury on Monday delivered Monsanto’s third such loss in California since August.

Alva and Alberta Pilliod claimed they used Roundup for more than 30 years to landscape their home and other properties. They were both diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

A federal jury in San Francisco previously ordered the weed killer maker to pay a man $80 million and a San Francisco jury in August awarded $289 million to a former greenskeeper, though a judge later reduced it.

The trials were the first of an estimated 13,000 lawsuits against Monsanto.

German chemical giant Bayer owns Monsanto and said it will appeal.

Expert: San Francisco Face ID Ban Would Be Warning to Police

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Skeptics of face recognition say an outright ban of the technology in San Francisco would send a strong warning to police. Other cities and states are also considering legislation to limit the use of face ID technology for criminal investigation and business purposes. San Francisco is home to tech innovators such as Airbnb and Uber, but officials are big on privacy and want to curb a quickly developing technology that is making its way into retail stores, motor vehicle departments and airports.

Facebook to Pay U.S. Content Reviewers More Amid Criticism

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Facebook is raising how much it pays U.S. contractors who do some of the social network’s most taxing work, including watching violent and other objectionable material for possible removal from the service. The content review jobs are psychologically taxing. Facebook has been criticized for not paying the workers enough and nor providing enough support.

France, New Zealand to Launch a Call to End Online Extremism

PARIS (AP) – The leaders of France and New Zealand will make a joint push to eliminate acts of violent extremism from being shown online, in a meeting with tech leaders in Paris on Wednesday. French President Emmanuel Macron and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will launch the “Christchurch call.” It’s named after the New Zealand city where 51 people were killed in a March 15 attack on mosques.