Attorneys representing New Mexico accused Facebook of deceiving users about privacy protections on the social media platform and encouraged jurors during closing arguments Wednesday to find the company liable for thousands of violations of state law. Jurors heard two weeks of evidence and must now decide whether Facebook violated the state’s Unfair Practices Act and […]

Attorneys representing the state of New Mexico told jurors that targeted political ads, attempting to lower Democratic turnout during the 2016 election, used Facebook data sold to a political consulting firm, during opening statements in a trial over the platform’s data protections. Facebook’s attorney said the social media company investigated suspicious third-party apps following the […]

Of the child safety measures agreed to in Meta’s landmark legal settlement, no category contains more detailed requirements than its commitments on age assurance — and for good reason. No matter how well the protections work, they are of little use if Meta can’t tell which users are kids. Determining which accounts belong to children […]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Kids under 18 will soon see a host of changes to their Instagram and Facebook experiences thanks to a historic $18 billion settlement Meta Platforms reached Wednesday with 48 U.S. states. Besides the money, which will be paid out over a decade, Meta has agreed to strengthen its age estimates to […]

CHICAGO (AP) — Meta insists it has a long history of protecting its youngest customers as it defends itself against a swath of lawsuits alleging its social media empire harms children. In the latest such instance, the social media giant is fighting allegations in a California federal court that it contributes to the youth mental […]

OAKLAND, California (AP) — A former engineering director at Meta who has testified before Congress about child safety on Instagram told jurors Wednesday at a landmark trial that the company took a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach on kids under 13 on its platforms. During his second day of testimony, Arturo Béjar said Meta consistently […]

Of the thousands of lawsuits Meta faces over child safety on its platforms, none may be more consequential than one going to trial this week in California. States are seeking extensive financial damages that could, in theory, total as much as $1.4 trillion, plus changes to how the company operates Facebook and Instagram. The lawsuit […]

LONDON (AP) — Meta Platforms said Wednesday it’s rolling out an “incognito” mode for WhatsApp users to have private conversations with its AI chatbot, a move intended to ease privacy concerns about sensitive information that users share in chats. The social media company said in a blog post that incognito chat mode provides a way […]

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico state prosecutors are seeking fundamental changes to Meta’s social media apps and algorithms to safeguard children in the second phase of a landmark trial on allegations that platforms such as Instagram have created a public safety hazard. Opening statements began Monday in the three-week bench trial to decide […]

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts’ highest court heard oral arguments Friday in the state’s lawsuit arguing that Meta designed features on Facebook and Instagram to make them addictive to young users. The lawsuit, filed in 2023 by Attorney General Andrea Campbell, alleges that Meta did this to make a profit and that its actions affected hundreds […]

For years, parents, teenagers, pediatricians, educators and whistleblowers have pushed the idea that social media is detrimental to young people’s mental health and can lead to addiction, eating disorders, sexual exploitation and suicide. For the first time, juries in two states took their side. In Los Angeles on Wednesday, a jury found both Meta and […]

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico jury determined Tuesday that Meta knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its social media platforms, a verdict that signals a changing tide against tech companies and the government’s willingness to crack down. The landmark decision comes after a nearly seven-week trial, […]