Meta has reached a settlement with a school district in the United States that accused social media companies of contributing to a growing mental health crisis among students. The case was filed by the Breathitt County School District, which alleged that platforms owned by Meta and other tech firms were intentionally designed to be addictive,…
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has launched a legal challenge against UK media regulator Ofcom over fees and possible penalties introduced under the country’s Online Safety Act. The case, currently before the High Court in London, centres on how Ofcom calculates regulatory fees and fines for major technology companies operating online platforms…
China has halted Meta’s planned $2 billion acquisition of Chinese-founded AI startup Manus, signalling growing concerns over the transfer of sensitive technology amid escalating tensions with the United States. In a brief statement issued Monday, Chinese authorities ordered both parties to unwind the deal following an earlier probe into the transaction. The move underscores Beijing’s…
Tech giant Meta has announced plans to reduce its workforce by about 10%, affecting roughly 8,000 employees, as it ramps up spending on artificial intelligence (AI). According to an internal memo shared with staff, the company will also pause hiring for thousands of open roles it had previously planned to fill. A spokesperson confirmed the…
Meta has taken down advertisements from law firms seeking clients for potential lawsuits related to social media addiction across its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. The move follows recent legal setbacks for the tech giant, including high-profile cases in the United States involving claims of harm caused by excessive social media use, particularly among young…
Campaigners and parents have welcomed a landmark US court ruling that found Meta Platforms and Google liable for harm caused by their social media platforms to a young user. A Los Angeles jury awarded $6 million in damages to a 20-year-old woman, identified as Kaley, after concluding that platforms including Instagram, Facebook and YouTube were…
Meta Platforms has been ordered by a court in New Mexico to pay $375 million in damages after a jury found the company misled users about the safety of its platforms for children. The ruling follows a lawsuit brought by the state, with Attorney General Raul Torrez describing the verdict as “historic.” It marks the…
Technology giant Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has acquired Moltbook, an experimental social networking platform designed specifically for artificial intelligence programs to communicate with one another. Meta confirmed that Moltbook’s development team will join the company’s Meta Superintelligence Labs as part of its expanding artificial intelligence research efforts. The company said…
Meta Plans Sharp Increase In AI Investment, Signals Further Restructuring Meta Platforms is preparing to significantly raise its spending on artificial intelligence this year, nearly doubling its investment despite growing warnings from industry leaders about a potential AI bubble. Speaking during an earnings call on Wednesday, Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said the Facebook and…
Meta Platforms is preparing to trial paid subscription options across Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, marking its latest push to expand revenue beyond advertising. The technology company said the proposed subscriptions, expected to roll out for testing in the coming months, would offer users access to additional features, including enhanced artificial intelligence tools. Core functions of…
Meta has agreed to acquire Manus, a Chinese-founded artificial intelligence start-up, in a deal aimed at strengthening the company’s AI capabilities and expanding its work on autonomous digital tools. While financial terms were not officially disclosed, analysts cited by Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal estimate the transaction could be valued at more than $2bn…
Meta is scaling back a portion of its metaverse spending to increase investment in artificial intelligence glasses and wearables, the company has confirmed. The move comes as the tech giant faces ongoing pressure to justify the billions it has poured into virtual-reality development, a long-term bet that has yet to win over many investors. Reports…
Meta has begun removing Australian users under the age of 16 from Instagram, Facebook and Threads, days before the country’s groundbreaking social media age ban takes effect. The tech company started notifying affected users last month, warning that accounts belonging to 13- to 15-year-olds would be deactivated from 4 December. Government estimates suggest around 150,000…
Global technology leaders Meta, Alphabet, and Microsoft are ramping up spending on artificial intelligence (AI) as competition intensifies to dominate the rapidly expanding sector. The massive investments, revealed in fresh earnings reports on Wednesday, highlight the growing financial stakes in an AI boom that has fuelled record stock market valuations. Meta announced plans to boost…
Meta will soon begin offering Facebook and Instagram users in the UK the option to pay for an ad-free experience, marking a significant shift in how the social media giant operates in the country. The company confirmed on Friday that UK users will be notified in the coming weeks of the new subscription option, which…
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has unveiled a new line of AI-driven smart glasses, strengthening its push to make wearable technology a key part of everyday life. At its annual Meta Connect conference held in Silicon Valley, CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced a series of products developed in partnership with Ray-Ban and…
Two former Meta researchers have accused the tech giant of covering up evidence of potential harm to children from its virtual reality (VR) platforms, sparking intense scrutiny during a U.S. Senate hearing. Jason Sattizahn and Cayce Savage, who previously worked on youth safety research for Meta, alleged that the company pressured its teams to delete…
Meta has announced new restrictions on its artificial intelligence chatbots, preventing them from engaging teenagers in conversations about suicide, self-harm, or eating disorders. Instead, the company said the chatbots will now direct young users to professional resources when such topics arise. The move follows heightened scrutiny after a leaked internal document suggested Meta’s AI products…
For years, 26-year-old Yassmine Boussihmed poured her heart into building her boutique dress brand online. Her Instagram page was more than a storefront – it was a community. Then, one morning in April, it was gone. Without warning, her account was shut down, accused of breaking Meta’s integrity rules. More than 5,000 followers vanished. So…
Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, reported a sharp rise in profits as it ramps up spending on artificial intelligence projects. The company said revenue for the April–June quarter climbed 22% year-on-year to $47.5 billion, while profits jumped 36% to $18.3 billion. However, expenses also grew by 12% to $27 billion,…
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is pouring billions into building what he hopes will be the world’s first artificial superintelligence (ASI) – a form of AI more capable than humans at nearly all types of knowledge work. The company has been aggressively recruiting some of the AI industry’s top minds, reportedly offering multimillion-dollar pay packages to…
Meta has announced a new wave of teen safety initiatives on its platforms, alongside a major crackdown on accounts linked to inappropriate interactions with minors. The tech giant, which owns Instagram and Facebook, revealed that it has taken down more than 635,000 accounts involved in sexualised or predatory behaviour toward children. Of the accounts removed,…
Meta has issued a public apology after an auto-translation error on its Instagram platform incorrectly announced the death of Siddaramaiah, the Chief Minister of Karnataka, India. The tech firm confirmed on Thursday that the glitch has now been fixed. The confusion began when Siddaramaiah posted a tribute in Kannada, the official language of Karnataka, mourning…
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other top executives have reached a settlement with shareholders over a high-profile lawsuit linked to Facebook’s repeated privacy breaches, including the infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal. The lawsuit, which sought over $8 billion in damages, was settled on Thursday just before the trial was set to resume in a Delaware court….
Meta is preparing to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on vast artificial intelligence data centres across the United States, founder Mark Zuckerberg announced, marking one of the tech industry’s largest infrastructure bets to date. The company behind Facebook and Instagram is building multiple multi-gigawatt facilities, each capable of powering massive AI workloads. The first…
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has revealed that some of his top employees have been targeted by rival tech giant Meta with “giant offers,” including signing bonuses reportedly reaching $100 million (£74.3 million). Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has been aggressively expanding its artificial intelligence (AI) efforts. Recently, it invested $14…
Meta is facing criticism after it emerged that some users of its AI chatbot tool may be unintentionally making their private queries publicly visible through a feature called the “Discover” feed. The feed, available on the Meta AI website and app, displays user prompts and AI-generated responses that have been shared publicly. While Meta says…
The Federal Government of Nigeria has responded firmly to Meta’s recent threat to shut down its services in the country, asserting that the company must comply with national laws and cannot evade the consequences of legal proceedings. In a statement issued on Saturday in Abuja, Ondaje Ijagwu, Director of Corporate Affairs at the Federal Competition…
Social media giant Meta is considering halting its operations in Nigeria after being hit with nearly $300 million in fines by multiple regulatory bodies in the country. The penalties stem from allegations of regulatory violations, including issues related to consumer protection, advertising compliance, and data privacy. Meta has described the fines as “unrealistic” and warned…
Meta has cautioned that users across Europe could soon face a “materially worse” experience on Facebook and Instagram following a recent regulatory crackdown by the European Commission. The warning, issued in the company’s quarterly earnings statement on Wednesday, follows the EU’s decision to fine Meta €200 million for its controversial “consent or pay” model, which…
Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, has launched a dedicated mobile app for its Meta AI assistant, marking a bold step in its ongoing push to compete with artificial intelligence leaders like OpenAI and Google. Announced on Tuesday, the new standalone app extends the capabilities of Meta AI beyond its existing integration across WhatsApp,…
WhatsApp LLC has warned that the recent tribunal ruling affirming the authority of Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to fine it and its parent company, Meta Platforms, could impact its ability to operate within the country. In a statement released on Sunday, WhatsApp stressed that its services are deeply tied to Meta’s…
The European Union has slapped tech giants Apple and Meta with a combined €700 million ($797 million) in fines for violating its new Digital Markets Act (DMA), marking the first major enforcement action under the sweeping digital competition law. Apple was fined €500 million ($570 million), while Meta was penalized €200 million ($228 million), the…
A former Meta executive has accused the tech giant of compromising U.S. national security and cooperating with the Chinese government to censor political dissent, during explosive testimony before the U.S. Senate on Wednesday. Sarah Wynn-Williams, previously Facebook’s global public policy director, told lawmakers that Meta’s leadership knowingly enabled the Chinese Communist Party to access user…
Meta has issued an apology after a technical glitch led to Instagram Reels recommending violent and graphic content to users. In a statement, a Meta spokesperson confirmed that the issue had been fixed, acknowledging that some users were shown inappropriate content that should not have appeared in their feeds. “We apologize for the mistake,” the…
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has built one of the most dominant social media empires of the modern era. However, its attempts to expand beyond social networking have often fallen short. Despite past failures, the company is once again setting its sights on the future – this time with humanoid robots. A New Bet…
Meta, under Mark Zuckerberg’s leadership, has experienced a series of controversial changes recently, including the removal of fact-checkers, a shift towards free speech, and the elimination of diversity and inclusion programs. These changes sparked outrage from some users, with calls for boycotts and account deletions in protest. However, despite initial concerns, Meta’s user numbers have…
Meta has announced plans to reduce its workforce by approximately 5%, targeting what it describes as “low performers.” The move, which could affect around 3,600 employees based on Meta’s 72,000-strong workforce as of September, was confirmed on Tuesday. In an internal memo first reported by Bloomberg, CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained the rationale behind the decision:…
Once an intern at Facebook, Shou Zi Chew now stands as one of Mark Zuckerberg’s fiercest competitors, leading TikTok, the platform that has disrupted the social media landscape. Chew’s journey from an aspiring tech professional to the CEO of one of the most influential social platforms is a story of ambition, adaptability, and timing. Starting…
Meta has expanded its board of directors with the appointment of Dana White, the CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), alongside two other notable figures, Charlie Songhurst, a tech investor, and John Elkann, CEO of Exor. The announcement was made by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday, signalling the company’s focus on opportunities in…
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is set to eliminate its fact-checking program and replace it with a community-driven moderation system. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the policy shift on Tuesday, acknowledging that the decision could lead to more harmful content appearing on its platforms. The changes include adopting “Community Notes,” a feature similar…
Tech giants Google and Samsung have announced plans to release a mixed-reality headset, marking a significant push to rival Apple’s Vision Pro and Meta’s Quest 3 in the expanding wearable technology market. The forthcoming headset, expected to launch in 2025, will be developed by Samsung and powered by a newly designed Android operating system for…
Meta has confirmed a $1 million donation to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, marking a significant step in rebuilding ties between the tech giant and the incoming administration. The donation, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, comes shortly after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s private meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago two weeks ago. This move…
Australia has announced new regulations that will require major tech companies, including Meta and Google, to financially compensate Australian media outlets for news content shared on their platforms. The initiative, dubbed the “News Bargaining Initiative,” is designed to create a financial incentive for digital platforms to reach agreements with local news publishers, Assistant Treasurer and…
Meta has announced that it is close to resolving a significant technical issue causing widespread outages on its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The company acknowledged the disruption on Wednesday, stating, “We’re aware that a technical issue is impacting some users’ ability to access our apps. We’re working to get things back to normal…
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads, is planning to undertake a $10 billion project to install a massive subsea fiber optic cable, aiming to enhance global internet connectivity. The ambitious project, described as one of the longest subsea cables in history, reflects Meta’s commitment to serving its vast and growing user…
The European Union has imposed a €798 million ($840 million) fine on Meta Platforms for what it described as antitrust violations linked to Facebook Marketplace. According to the European Commission, Meta breached EU competition laws by tying Facebook Marketplace, its online classified ads service, to its dominant social networking platform, Facebook. The company was also…
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has reportedly dismissed several employees for violating its meal voucher policy. Workers allegedly used the vouchers, intended for meals, to purchase non-food items such as toothpaste and washing powder, according to sources who claim to be current or former Meta employees. The company provides staff with…
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has been ordered by the European Union’s highest court to reduce its use of individuals’ data for personalised advertising, marking a major victory for privacy advocates. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled in favour of privacy campaigner Max Schrems, who accused Facebook of misusing personal…
Meta announced on Friday that it would lift the restrictions on former President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in anticipation of the upcoming Republican National Convention. The decision ensures Trump, the leading Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election, will have equal social media access alongside Democrat President Joe Biden. “In assessing our responsibility…
