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What could Meta’s US settlement mean around the world
Confirmed
"Today, we have secured a settlement with Meta that will make social media less dangerous for our kids and make a world of a difference for children and their families," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.
She said it “may be significant” if Meta “actually does what this settlement requires. That said, Meta has entered into this particular settlement.
As a part of the settlement, Meta has said it will set time limits on children’s use of its platforms Facebook and Instagram and block night-time usage. She said, “If the parties disagree about whether Meta is following the settlement terms, it will be a long road to litigate that.
“I would not think this settlement amount alone will severely impact Meta,” she said. Meta must also bring on an independent auditor with "expansive access to information and resources" and the right to communicate with the attorneys general, the announcement said, and would also be subject to an injunction "prohibiting it from making further false, misleading, or deceptive statements around its safety features.
Meta will lay off around 8,000 workers, the company said in a memo to employees. (Arda Kucukkaya/Anadolu via / ) "There are some positives," she added, noting the ban on children under 13 accessing Meta's platforms as well as Instagram being turned off for teens overnight.
A weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our lives In Kenya, the high court recently ruled that Meareg’s case against Meta could go ahead, after years of legal manoeuvring from the company to try to prevent it. Representatives from Google (which owns YouTube), TikTok and Snap, which the settlement identified alongside the others as a "core" member of the industry, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
However, she said, “it does nothing to change the age for social media in the U.S., which will still be 13 years old — whereas other countries like Australia and the U.K. have been raising the age to 16. FRANCE BECOMES FIRST EU NATION TO BAN SOCIAL MEDIA FOR CHILDREN UNDER 15 A computer screen displays the Meta logo while a mobile phone in the foreground shows Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg.
This settlement the judge has just signed off on would resolve most of the state lawsuits but not individual, personal injury lawsuits like Hinks or lawsuits brought by school districts. Some of the platform changes that Meta has agreed to, and that Meta and the states are hoping others will also adopt, would have been hard to obtain through legislation, she said.
What's confirmed
- "Today, we have secured a settlement with Meta that will make social media less dangerous for our kids and make a world of a difference for children and their families," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in…
- As a part of the settlement, Meta has said it will set time limits on children’s use of its platforms Facebook and Instagram and block night-time usage.
- “I would not think this settlement amount alone will severely impact Meta,” she said.
- She said it “may be significant” if Meta “actually does what this settlement requires.
- She said, “If the parties disagree about whether Meta is following the settlement terms, it will be a long road to litigate that.
- That said, Meta has entered into this particular settlement.
What's still developing
- Foxglove said Meta, Facebook’s parent company, had “fought tooth and nail to avoid responsibility”.
- On Wednesday, Meta settled a lawsuit brought by 29 US states who argued it had designed addictive products that hooked young people.
- Meta’s algorithm is intended to keep users scrolling, stuck on the platform, and then it shows them ads.
- A weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our lives In Kenya, the high court recently ruled that Meareg’s case against Meta could go ahead, after years of legal manoeuvring from the company to try to prevent it.
- FRANCE BECOMES FIRST EU NATION TO BAN SOCIAL MEDIA FOR CHILDREN UNDER 15 A computer screen displays the Meta logo while a mobile phone in the foreground shows Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg.
- Meta will lay off around 8,000 workers, the company said in a memo to employees. (Arda Kucukkaya/Anadolu via / ) "There are some positives," she added, noting the ban on children under 13 accessing Meta's platforms…
- Brown and other parents have joined under the banner ParentsSOS to push Congress to pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which she said has much broader protections for kids.
- THIS IS OUR TIME TO FIGHT BACK The Instagram logo is displayed on a smartphone screen. (Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via / ) She said Meta's current changes are too focused on parental tools and don't…