GoKawiil
Tech News
Meta has reached a $16.7 billion settlement with 47 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and several territories over allegations tied to its addictive user experience design. As part of the agreement, Meta committed to making specific changes to features that regulators say were built to keep users, particularly minors, engaged for longer periods.
Meta has agreed to pay as much as $17.1 billion and change how Instagram and Facebook operate, settling claims from 47 states, D.C. and U.S. territories that its platforms were built to addict and harm children. About $12 billion is due upfront, with the rest contingent on Snap, TikTok and YouTube accepting similar penalties and reforms.
Meta has settled a multistate lawsuit accusing it of engineering Instagram and Facebook features—like infinite scroll and push notifications—to hook children, agreeing to pay a guaranteed $12.1 billion over ten years plus up to $5 billion more if TikTok and YouTube adopt similar payments and rules. The deal covers 47 states, DC and several territories, ending a trial in Oakland before Mark Zuckerberg was set to testify; Texas, Florida and New Mexico settled separately or already won judgments. Teen accounts will now face a default 2-hour daily combined limit on Instagram and Facebook, adjustable only by parents.
Reuters reports Meta spent 2024 developing 'Project OT,' an internal restructuring effort meant to reorganize the company around AI agents overseen by small human 'pods,' with some teams facing headcount cuts of up to 60%. Mark Zuckerberg reportedly shelved or paused a planned second wave of layoffs under the plan, which would have followed the company's earlier 10% workforce reduction this year. Meta confirmed a second plan existed but described the harsher cuts as scenarios under consideration rather than finalized decisions.
Meta has agreed to pay roughly $18 billion to resolve claims from 52 state attorneys general that its platforms harmed teen mental health, without admitting wrongdoing. As part of the deal, it will roll out default teen protections including a two-hour daily usage cap, a nighttime mode that disables feeds and Reels from midnight to 6 a.m., and muted notifications during school hours, while still allowing direct messaging.
Jim Cramer said Meta's $18 billion settlement with attorneys general over youth social media addiction claims is a favorable outcome for the company, ending a federal trial that could have exposed Meta to $200 billion in fines. Under the deal with 48 states, D.C., and three territories, Meta agreed to daily time limits, better parental controls, age-verification tools, and fewer notifications during school hours for young users.
Meta has agreed to pay $17 billion and implement new child-safety measures on Facebook and Instagram to resolve a major legal fight over teen social media addiction. The deal, announced by state attorneys general, settles claims brought by 47 states and averts a continuation of the trial.
As part of an $18 billion settlement with 29 U.S. states over children's online safety, Meta agreed to major restrictions on how teens use Instagram and Facebook. The changes include a cumulative two-hour daily time limit across both apps, a default midnight-to-6 a.m. usage block, options for a non-algorithmic default feed, and usage-break prompts every 15 minutes, with most measures required to stay in place for a decade pending court approval.
Meta has settled requirements forcing Instagram and Facebook to add new teen safeguards, including a non-personalized feed option, stricter age verification, a combined two-hour daily usage cap across both apps, and recurring prompts urging teens to stop scrolling. The changes must roll out within four months and apply across alternate accounts Meta detects belonging to the same teen user.
Perceptron, a startup founded by former Meta FAIR researchers Armen Aghajanyan and Akshat Shrivastava, has released Isaac 0.5, a vision model built to help robots perceive and navigate physical settings like warehouses and factories. The model is open-weight, meaning its parameters and training data are publicly inspectable, and the company recently closed a $21 million round led by Bessemer Venture Partners.
Meta has reached a proposed settlement with dozens of states over allegations that it built Facebook and Instagram to be addictive to minors and improperly collected children's data. The deal, still pending court approval and involving no admission of wrongdoing, requires Meta to impose default two-hour daily time limits for under-18 users, overnight app blackouts, and periodic screen-time reminders, while paying up to $18 billion over a decade to fund youth online safety programs.
Meta settled a federal lawsuit brought by attorneys general from 51 US states and territories over claims it harmed young users, agreeing to pay as much as $16.7 billion and overhaul how teens use Instagram and Facebook. The deal came abruptly, just days into a federal trial that had threatened over $1 trillion in potential liability, and includes a default two-hour daily time limit for teens that requires parental approval to remove.