Facebook

Meta agreed to pay up to $17 billion over ten years to 48 U.S. states, settling allegations that its addictive design features harmed youth mental health. The settlement mandates age verification, a two-hour daily limit for users under 18, a midnight-to-6 a.m. block, removal of likes and extreme filters for minors, and non-algorithmic feed options. Meta denies wrongdoing but will implement these safeguards for 10 years. Critics argue the deal lets Meta define harm and leaves harmful algorithms as default.

11 reports · 7 sources · Updated Sep 3, 12:00 PM UTC

Meta Platforms agreed to pay up to $18 billion to settle a landmark lawsuit brought by 52 U.S. state and territory attorneys general alleging it illegally collected children’s data and designed Instagram and Facebook to be addictive to teens. The settlement includes $12.7 billion guaranteed, plus up to $5.3 billion contingent on TikTok and YouTube adopting similar safety measures. Meta will enforce default two-hour daily limits, nighttime blocks, muted school-hour notifications, and stricter age checks for users under 18. Meta denied wrongdoing but called for industry-wide standards.

16 reports · 9 sources · Updated Aug 30, 09:00 PM UTC

A landmark federal trial against Meta Platforms began in Oakland, California, on August 17, 2026, led by a coalition of 29 U.S. state attorneys general. The lawsuit accuses Meta of knowingly designing addictive features on Facebook and Instagram that harm youth mental health and illegally collecting data on children under 13. Plaintiffs seek up to $1.4 trillion in damages and court-ordered platform changes. Meta disputes the allegations, citing its commitment to youth safety. The outcome could force fundamental algorithmic changes and significantly impact Meta’s advertising revenue and AI investments.

29 reports · 10 sources · Updated Aug 28, 04:53 PM UTC

A landmark trial against Meta Platforms begins in Oakland, California, brought by attorneys general from California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey (representing 29 states). The states allege Meta intentionally designed Facebook and Instagram features—like infinite scroll, autoplay, and algorithmic filters—to addict young users, causing psychological harm. Meta argues Section 230 shields it from liability. The trial, overseen by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers with an advisory jury, is expected to last seven weeks. Previous cases have resulted in nearly $1 billion in penalties. If states prevail, Meta could face up to $1.4 trillion in fines and court-ordered platform changes.

25 reports · 8 sources · Updated Aug 26, 02:42 PM UTC

Meta removed 756,000 accounts (462,000 Instagram, 294,000 Facebook) of Australian users under 16 since December 2025, complying with a world-first social media ban. Despite this, over 80% of under-16s remain on platforms, with children finding workarounds. Australia’s regulator is considering enforcement lawsuits, and penalties have doubled to A$99 million. Meta uses AI for age detection and faces a parliamentary inquiry alongside TikTok, Google, and Snap.

6 reports · 4 sources · Updated Aug 13, 03:21 PM UTC

A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $567 million into an abatement fund, plus $375 million in civil penalties, after a jury found the company violated state law by contributing to a youth mental health crisis. The funds will support treatment, prevention, and screening. The court also mandated product changes, including age-verification tools and usage limits. Meta plans to appeal. The case is part of broader U.S. litigation against social media platforms over child safety.

17 reports · 11 sources · Updated Aug 15, 10:25 AM UTC

The Maharashtra State Cyber Department announced on July 28, 2026, that it had uncovered a coordinated cross-border disinformation campaign linked to protests by the 'Cockroach Janata Party' (likely a reference to NEET-related protests). Technical analysis revealed that anti-social elements operating from Pakistan and certain Middle Eastern countries were amplifying misleading narratives targeting Indian audiences. The police identified nearly 500 social media profiles, with approximately 100 accounts operating from outside India. Over 140 posts involved AI-generated or AI-assisted content, including digitally inflated crowd visuals, synthetic voice generation, cloned audio, and manipulated videos falsely attributed to public figures. The monitoring used OSINT, metadata examination, behavioral analysis, and forensic tools. Legal action has been initiated, and objectionable content has been removed from platforms including Instagram, X, Facebook, and YouTube.

1 reports · 1 sources · Updated Jul 28, 05:59 PM UTC

India’s IT Ministry summoned Meta’s global policy team after an automated error briefly removed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Facebook post addressing exam paper leaks. Meta apologized, restored the content, and implemented enhanced safeguards for prominent accounts. The government, deeming Meta’s explanation inadequate, escalated the issue to a parliamentary panel hearing on algorithmic bias, public order, and social media regulation. Separately, Hyderabad police filed cases against Meta’s India head over alleged morphed posts targeting Modi.

18 reports · 3 sources · Updated Aug 8, 06:38 PM UTC

Vietnam is drafting new rules to restrict social media access for children under 16, barring them from posting, commenting, sharing, or reacting on platforms. Accounts for minors must be registered using a parent's or guardian's information, who will supervise content and screen time. Social media companies will be required to identify child users and ensure age-appropriate content exposure. The move stops short of a full ban, unlike Australia's recent law, and aims to protect children from cyberbullying, fraud, and pornography. The draft decree also proposes limiting online gaming for children to 60 minutes per day. Vietnam has large social media user bases, with 89 million Facebook accounts and 80 million TikTok users. The policy follows similar actions in Australia, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Meta has noted technical challenges in enforcing passive-only usage, as behavioral signals needed to identify child users would diminish.

1 reports · 1 sources · Updated Jul 27, 02:42 AM UTC

Vietnam is drafting new rules to restrict social media access for children under 16, barring them from posting, commenting, sharing, or reacting on platforms. Accounts for minors must be registered using a parent's or guardian's information, who will supervise content and screen time. Social media companies will be required to identify child users and ensure age-appropriate content. The move stops short of a full ban, unlike Australia's recent law, and aims to protect children from cyberbullying, fraud, and pornography. The draft decree also proposes limiting online gaming for children to 60 minutes per day. Vietnam has large social media user bases, with 89 million Facebook accounts and 80 million TikTok users. The policy follows similar actions in Australia, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Meta has warned that passive-only use by children could reduce behavioral signals needed to identify and protect them online.

1 reports · 1 sources · Updated Jul 27, 02:42 AM UTC

Major social media platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Substack, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, are increasingly updating their content guidelines to restrict low-quality, machine-generated content, often referred to as 'AI slop.' The article, published by Business Insider on July 22, 2026, reports that these platforms are navigating a fine line between embracing AI tools and preventing the proliferation of spammy, automated posts that degrade user experience. The crackdown is particularly focused on monetized accounts, where creators may use AI to generate large volumes of content quickly to maximize revenue. The report highlights a growing industry-wide effort to maintain content quality and trust as generative AI becomes more accessible.

1 reports · 1 sources · Updated Jul 22, 06:53 PM UTC

On July 20, 2026, French lawmakers reached a compromise on a bill banning social media access for minors under 15, with enforcement starting September 1, 2026. The law, backed by President Macron, also restricts smartphone use in high schools. It faces a constitutional review and potential conflict with EU regulations. The European Commission has urged caution and announced its own plans for minor access. France becomes the first EU country to enact such a ban, following Australia’s under-16 social media law.

14 reports · 7 sources · Updated Jul 22, 03:44 PM UTC

Goldman Sachs has launched a new alternative investments platform aimed at providing wealthy clients and family offices with direct access to fast-growing private companies. The platform, led by Matt Doherty, includes a newly formed private company investments team and a secondary advisory group to facilitate trading of private stakes. Goldman focuses on mature companies with proven products and substantial revenue, avoiding early-stage ventures. The bank has directed clients toward AI infrastructure such as data centers. The announcement follows a strong second quarter with record revenue of $20.34 billion, driven by equities trading and dealmaking. Goldman recently served as lead underwriter for the SpaceX IPO, reflecting a broader Wall Street trend of startups staying private longer to capture valuation gains before public offerings.

1 reports · 1 sources · Updated Jul 22, 12:49 PM UTC

Goldman Sachs has launched a new alternative investments platform aimed at giving wealthy clients and family offices direct access to fast-growing private companies, according to an internal memo. The platform, led by Matt Doherty, includes a newly formed private company investments team and a secondary advisory group for trading private stakes. Goldman focuses on mature companies with proven products and substantial revenue, avoiding early-stage ventures. Surging interest in AI has driven demand for physical infrastructure like data centers. The move follows a record second quarter for Goldman, with quarterly revenue of $20.34 billion, up 39% year-over-year. The bank's wealth and asset management push reflects a broader Wall Street trend as startups stay private longer, allowing early investors to capture valuation gains before public markets. Goldman recently served as lead underwriter on the SpaceX IPO, valued at over $2 trillion.

1 reports · 1 sources · Updated Jul 22, 12:49 PM UTC

According to a report by SemiAnalysis, Meta will use a custom version of AMD's Instinct MI450-series accelerators (likely MI455X) with only 144GB of HBM4 memory, one-third of the standard 432GB configuration. The custom chip is optimized for Facebook's recommendation systems, offering better bandwidth-per-dollar and lower power consumption, but with significantly reduced compute and memory capacity. This specialization makes it unsuitable for training frontier AI models or running LLM inference. While the custom design could save Meta tens of millions of dollars in bill-of-materials costs, it reduces versatility and interchangeability. As a result, Meta may still need to purchase general-purpose accelerators—potentially from Nvidia—for its frontier AI workloads, creating an ironic situation where cost-cutting in one area drives spending in another.

1 reports · 1 sources · Updated Jul 22, 11:36 AM UTC

Business Insider reports that major social platforms including YouTube, TikTok, Substack, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads are updating their content guidelines to address the proliferation of low-quality, machine-generated content, often referred to as 'AI slop.' The platforms are navigating a fine line between embracing AI tools and preventing the degradation of content quality, particularly for monetized accounts. The article details specific policy changes and enforcement measures being implemented by each platform to curb spammy, automated, or derivative AI content while still allowing legitimate AI-assisted creativity. The report highlights the growing challenge for social media companies in maintaining content standards as generative AI becomes more accessible and widely used by creators.

1 reports · 1 sources · Updated Jul 22, 12:26 AM UTC

This opinion article argues that digital assets management must become a standard component of end-of-life care. With 535 million WhatsApp users and 9.75 million annual deaths in India, vast amounts of digital data—social media profiles, emails, cloud photos, cryptocurrency wallets—remain locked and unmanaged after death. The author notes that death is now a digital event, and families struggle to access or manage loved ones' digital traces, which can both comfort and cause grief. The Gujarat High Court recently ruled that iCloud data can form part of a deceased's estate, and India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 allows nomination of a person to exercise data rights after death. International platforms offer partial tools like Apple's legacy contact and Meta's memorialization options. The article calls for individuals to decide in advance whether their digital traces are deleted, preserved, or transferred, and for healthcare systems to integrate digital legacy planning into end-of-life care.

1 reports · 1 sources · Updated Jul 21, 09:36 AM UTC

On July 21, Georgina Rodriguez, partner of football star Cristiano Ronaldo, issued a statement via social media clarifying that a Facebook account impersonating her had posted the phrase 'Bye bye Argentina' following Argentina's World Cup final defeat. She stated she has contacted Meta's team to address the impersonation and thanked fans for alerting her. The incident drew public attention due to the sensitive nature of the comment regarding Argentina's loss. Georgina emphasized that the account is fraudulent and she is working to resolve the situation promptly.

1 reports · 1 sources · Updated Jul 21, 04:22 AM UTC

Pinterest (PINS) continues to demonstrate strong user engagement and growth, reporting 631 million global monthly active users in Q1 FY2026, an 11% increase year-over-year, with global revenue rising 18% to $1.008 billion. The company has achieved 11 consecutive quarters of record-high users and double-digit user growth for 10 straight quarters, driven by AI investments and Gen Z adoption. Despite these positive metrics, Pinterest's stock has declined 36% over the past year and trades at a forward P/E of 13.30, significantly below the industry average of 29.56. Investor concerns include weaker ad pricing (down 5% YoY), rising competition from AI-investing rivals like Instagram and Facebook, and macroeconomic uncertainty. The company recently signed a $4 billion cloud services deal with Amazon to advance AI projects. Analysts remain divided, with half bullish and half neutral, while hedge fund holdings decreased from 53 to 49 funds in Q1.

1 reports · 1 sources · Updated Jul 20, 05:29 PM UTC

The article reports that US President Donald Trump is preparing to push a United Nations resolution on 'freedom of speech' that would challenge the European Union's digital regulation framework. The EU currently obligates tech companies to take action against hate comments on their platforms. Trump's initiative, framed as a defense of free speech, puts Europe in a diplomatic dilemma, as it could undermine the EU's regulatory approach to content moderation. The report references a 2025 meeting between Trump and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the White House, suggesting ongoing alignment between US political leadership and major tech platforms. The article, published by Die Welt on July 20, 2026, highlights a growing transatlantic rift over internet governance and the balance between combating hate speech and protecting free expression.

1 reports · 1 sources · Updated Jul 20, 02:19 PM UTC

This article examines billionaire investor Peter Thiel's warning that a 'Georgist real estate catastrophe' is harming young Americans. Thiel argues that restrictive zoning laws and inelastic housing supply create windfalls for older homeowners while locking out younger generations. The article presents supporting data: home prices relative to median household income hit an all-time high in April 2025, the income needed to buy a single-family home has doubled since 2019 to $104,700, and the typical first-time homebuyer is now 40 years old—a record high. Harvard and CBRE research confirm that in 35 U.S. markets, home prices are at their highest levels relative to incomes. The piece also notes that middle-class affordability is deteriorating broadly, with at least 20% of middle-class earners unable to afford basic necessities in every metro area studied by Brookings. The article presents Thiel's views alongside data but does not definitively conclude whether he is right, instead presenting the evidence for readers to evaluate.

1 reports · 1 sources · Updated Jul 19, 11:25 AM UTC

This article from Marginal REVOLUTION discusses a new academic study by Ertugrul Uysal, Sascha Alavi, and Valéry Bezençon that explores how social media use may change people's identities, specifically shifting individual values toward achievement and conformity. The study uses a difference-in-differences analysis across countries and experimental manipulation of Facebook use to establish a causal link. It finds that social media increases achievement and conformity orientation through an increased need for approval, particularly among those who self-ruminate. The author expresses skepticism about the reliability of such research but praises the novel angle beyond typical beneficial/harmful effects studies.

1 reports · 1 sources · Updated Jul 19, 04:21 AM UTC

This article from Marginal REVOLUTION comments on a research paper by Ertugrul Uysal, Sascha Alavi, and Valéry Bezençon that investigates how social media changes people's identities, beyond the usual beneficial or harmful effects. The study suggests social media acts as a catalyst shifting individual values toward achievement and conformity. Using a difference-in-differences analysis, the authors found that countries with higher social media adoption show increased achievement and conformity orientation compared to culturally similar countries. They also manipulated social media use to establish a causal link, finding that social media activates these values through an increased need for approval, especially among those who self-ruminate. The article's author expresses skepticism about trusting the results of any such paper but praises the inquiry along different dimensions.

1 reports · 1 sources · Updated Jul 19, 04:21 AM UTC

This article from Marginal REVOLUTION comments on a research paper by Ertugrul Uysal, Sascha Alavi, and Valéry Bezençon that explores how social media may change people's identities, specifically shifting individual values toward achievement and conformity. The author expresses skepticism about the reliability of such studies but acknowledges the novelty of the inquiry. The research uses a difference-in-differences analysis across countries and a causal experiment on Facebook users, finding that social media use increases achievement and conformity orientation through an increased need for approval, especially among those who self-ruminate. The study suggests social media contributes to a societal culture emphasizing achievement-seeking and conformity.

1 reports · 1 sources · Updated Jul 19, 04:21 AM UTC

Entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel has been named the recipient of the Axel Springer Award 2026, as announced by the company on July 17, 2026. The award honors individuals for entrepreneurial spirit, innovation, and social impact. Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, early investor in Facebook, and co-founder of Palantir, is recognized for shaping technological, economic, and social debates. Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner praised Thiel's long-term thinking and nonconformism. The award also serves as a symbol of free speech and open debate, with Axel Springer noting Thiel has faced attacks and discrediting, including a canceled event at the Vienna Festival. The ceremony will take place on September 24, 2026, in Berlin, featuring a laudatory speech by Bari Weiss and a conversation with PayPal co-founder Max Levchin. Thiel is the tenth recipient of the honorary prize, which carries no monetary award.

1 reports · 1 sources · Updated Jul 17, 10:15 AM UTC

Britain's Gambling Commission has accused Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, of knowingly allowing illegal online casino advertisements on its platforms. In a speech at the ICE Barcelona trade show, Executive Director Tim Miller stated that Meta is 'turning a blind eye' to ads for gambling sites that do not participate in the UK's GamStop self-exclusion scheme. Miller asserted that Meta's claim of ignorance until notified is 'simply false,' pointing to the company's own searchable ad library as evidence. He criticized Meta for failing to use keyword filters to block such ads and suggested the company prioritizes revenue from criminals over enforcement. The Commission reported 'very limited progress' in addressing the issue with Meta, which has been contacted for comment.

1 reports · 1 sources

The European Commission issued preliminary findings that Meta’s Instagram and Facebook violate the EU’s Digital Services Act due to addictive design features—including infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and highly personalized recommendations—that harm users’ physical and mental well-being, especially minors. The Commission demands default deactivation of these features and better parental controls. Meta can respond; if confirmed, it faces fines up to 6% of global turnover. Similar probes target TikTok.

12 reports · 7 sources · Updated Jul 10, 03:39 PM UTC

Meta has officially launched Muse Spark, its first flagship multimodal AI model developed under the newly formed Superintelligence Labs led by Alexandr Wang. Unlike the company's previous Llama series, Muse Spark is a proprietary, closed-source model designed to natively process visual and textual data with low latency on consumer hardware. The model is currently being deployed across Meta's vast ecosystem, including the Meta AI app, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and Ray-Ban Meta glasses, reaching an initial audience of three billion daily active users. This launch marks a strategic shift for Meta, moving from open-source contributions to direct competition with proprietary models from OpenAI and Anthropic. Muse Spark emphasizes agentic capabilities, enabling autonomous task execution rather than simple chat responses. The article highlights that this move establishes native multimodality as an industry baseline and shifts competitive focus toward orchestration, context management, and deployment scale. Developers are urged to reconsider their architectures as Meta integrates this intelligence directly into its platforms, potentially positioning Muse Spark as both a tool and a competitor for third-party applications.

1 reports · 1 sources

WhatsApp has introduced a new private mode for its Meta AI assistant, designed to ensure that user conversations remain confidential and leave no digital trace. Announced on May 13, 2026, this feature utilizes a private processing method that prevents Meta or its employees from accessing message content, making chats visible only to the device owner. By default, messages in this mode are not saved and disappear automatically, addressing growing privacy concerns among users who share sensitive personal, financial, or health information with AI chatbots. WhatsApp positions this as the only truly reliable privacy tool in the chatbot market, contrasting it with competitors where questions and answers may still be visible to the provider. Currently, the private mode supports text-only interactions, excluding image uploads. The rollout began gradually upon announcement. Additionally, WhatsApp highlighted built-in security protections that prevent the AI from answering problematic queries. This launch follows earlier implementations of private processing technology for conversation summaries and aims to provide a secure environment for users to explore ideas without surveillance.

1 reports · 1 sources

A delegation from the Udupi District Mahila Congress met with Udupi Superintendent of Police Hariram Shankar on May 14, 2026, to demand legal action against V. Sunil Kumar, the Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Karkala. The group submitted a memorandum alleging that Mr. Kumar posted an unverified and fake news clipping from The Hindu on his Facebook account. The fabricated clipping purportedly showed former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi advising citizens against purchasing gold. The Congress delegation argued that this act maligned the image of the former Prime Minister and was unbefitting of Mr. Kumar’s stature as a former Cabinet Minister. They asserted that his actions constituted a crime and urged the police to register a First Information Report (FIR) against him. In response, Superintendent Shankar stated that the memorandum has been forwarded to Vijay Prasad, the Deputy Superintendent of Police for the Karkala sub-division, for further inquiry. The incident highlights ongoing political tensions and the scrutiny faced by public officials regarding the dissemination of information on social media platforms in the region.

1 reports · 1 sources