Meta agrees to pay up to $18 billion to end trial over Instagram, Facebook child addiction claims

https://www.techspot.com/images2/news/ts3_thumbs/2026/08/2026-08-07-ts3_thumbs-735.jpg

Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years.
TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust.

Winners & losers: Meta has agreed to pay as much as $18 billion and overhaul how minors use Instagram and Facebook, settling a lawsuit that accused the company of designing its platforms to addict children. Court filings and a Meta blog post confirmed the deal this morning. The agreement ends a trial that began August 18 in Oakland, and was expected to run through early October. It also means Mark Zuckerberg won't have to take the stand as planned. Instagram head Adam Mosseri had already testified before the settlement landed.

This case dates to 2023, when 29 states sued Meta alleging it built infinite scroll, push notifications, and recommendation algorithms specifically to maximize how longkids stayed on its apps, misled the public about the harm, and collected children's data without parental consent...

Copyright of this story solely belongs to techspot.com. To see the full text click HERE

Read more

https://wp.technologyreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/261016_LLMsNotcomplicated_V2.jpg?resize=1200,600

An interview with Goodfire researcher Nick Cammarata, whose viral blog post claimed LLMs are easier to understand than thought, as other researchers push back

Featured Podcasts Big Technology Podcast: Google CEO Sundar Pichai: AI's Infinite Possibilities, Compute Scarcity Dilemmas, Future AI Products The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators. Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast. Cheeky Pint: How Toto

https://hackread.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Industrial_Defender_Logo_1792500078XxEnes5gBs.jpg

Industrial Defender Unifies Endpoint Intelligence and Network Monitoring for CIP-015, Adds Risk Signal

Orlando, Florida, United States, October 20th, 2026, CyberNewswire Industrial Defender Unifies Endpoint Intelligence and Network Monitoring for CIP-015, Adds Risk Signal to Turn Findings into Prioritized Patch Plans New internal network security monitoring correlates every anomaly with deep asset intelligence; Risk Signal converts findings into verified remediation CompareSecurity Industrial Defender,

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/kntXJzuBjvVTZvqgBeCKfN-1920-80.jpg

'How do you know what's real?': US utilities are making AI data centers prove they exist before handing over power connections — as 50% of planned buildouts are currently being delayed, stalled, or canceled

* US data center developers have requested 1,066GW of grid connections, but Wood Mackenzie expects utilities to commit to only about 28% * Utilities are demanding collateral, longer contracts, and study fees; Exelon's high-probability load fell from a whopping 18GW to 11GW once it insisted on the former * Because