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Meta reaches $17B settlement over social media harms to children

reuters.com

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Re: Meta reaches $17B settlement over social media harms to children

#131

Post by ApolloFortyNine »

>Meta will impose daily usage limits and restrict nighttime usage by children who use Facebook and Instagram, and enhance measures to prevent children from accessing age-restricted content.

Even if we assume children don't find a way around this, they will simply switch to a different social media app after their two hours are up, or switch to an app that doesn't have the two hour limit at all.

This is clearly a rule that would have to be mandated by the government, or perhaps parental controls on their devices (not sure why parenting was ruled out here apparently). Same with whatever opinions people have on an algorithm showing you content you'd enjoy, which has always been the goal of media since the concept of a magazine was created, they just didn't have the right tools available.

It also will only punish kids who actually gave their age no? That's not actually required (yet) to sign up for a social media app. I was probably 9 when I started clicking a random year for my age when signing up. Doesn't take you long to figure out you have to jump through hoops when your honest.

Really I have no idea what this case accomplished besides being a tax on a successful company.

Re: Meta reaches $17B settlement over social media harms to children

#132

Post by nyxtom »

Barbing wrote: post #32
hugodan wrote: post #16

still feels like they got away easy for raping children's minds "Meta has long argued it could not have misled consumers about whether its services were addictive because "social media addiction" is not a recognized psychiatric condition." that's a nice escape hatch, considering that they are using all the tricks in the book (from online gambling, etc) and then some

>[irreparably damaging] children's minds I’d love for someone to get me into Mark Zuckerberg’s head on why he should keep doing what he’s doing.

He's not going to willingly shutdown his company, the same reason a casino will not just suddenly close up shop. The owner would have to have a dramatic shift in worldview to delete the whole thing.

Re: Meta reaches $17B settlement over social media harms to children

#133

Post by cindyllm »

xvxvx wrote: post #74

I’m beyond sick of how this country operates. This is small potatoes for Meta and stops the $1T+ lawsuit, which would have had an actual impact on these scumbags. Time and time again it’s the same story: the Protestant worship of money and wealth at the expense of others. If it makes money then it’s a blessing from God, and thus cannot be evil. Sorry, Americans, but your children will be mind raped with social media…

[dead]

Re: Meta reaches $17B settlement over social media harms to children

#134

Post by JKCalhoun »

groundzeros2015 wrote: post #105
hugodan wrote: post #16

still feels like they got away easy for raping children's minds "Meta has long argued it could not have misled consumers about whether its services were addictive because "social media addiction" is not a recognized psychiatric condition." that's a nice escape hatch, considering that they are using all the tricks in the book (from online gambling, etc) and then some

Are we going to pretend that internet did not expose inappropriate content to children prior to Facebook?

Does that excuse Facebook?

Re: Meta reaches $17B settlement over social media harms to children

#136

Post by left-struck »

jimmyjazz14 wrote: post #77
fivetenpen wrote: post #31

Why not just ban the engagement algorithm completely. Adults are just as susceptible to addiction.

Why not just ban all non government approved speech, less we hear something that might hurt our feelings or make us engage in wrongthink.

It’s interesting that you bring up wrongthink. Banning free speech would be something like out of 1984, but what we have is far more subtle and insidious. A system that shows you only what it wants you to see, while tricking you into thinking you’re seeing what you want to see.

Anyway, you can support free speech while hating this algorithm crap at the same time.

Re: Meta reaches $17B settlement over social media harms to children

#137

Post by voakbasda »

ChicagoBoy11 wrote: post #29

As a school administrator, this is pretty disappointing. I've included slides showing a graphic of someone in a slot machine next to a screenshot of Instagram, and would do an activity where the children themselves drew connections of what they saw/knew. It was not difficult, and they hit it out of the park every time. The fact that the possible damages sought was over 200 billion, and this settlement clocks in at le…

If anything this will embolden others to continue to pursue strategies of “do harm and pay the fine.” It is simply a cost for these sociopaths doing business, and our government has explicitly endorsed that status quo for decades.

Re: Meta reaches $17B settlement over social media harms to children

#138

Post by barbazoo »

nyxtom wrote: post #132
Barbing wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>[irreparably damaging] children's minds I’d love for someone to get me into Mark Zuckerberg’s head on why he should keep doing what he’s doing.

He's not going to willingly shutdown his company, the same reason a casino will not just suddenly close up shop. The owner would have to have a dramatic shift in worldview to delete the whole thing.

Strawman, no one said anything about shutting down the company.

Even without the government telling them, they shouldn't be damaging children.

Re: Meta reaches $17B settlement over social media harms to children

#139

Post by JKCalhoun »

NalNezumi wrote: post #123

>Meta will impose daily usage limits and restrict nighttime usage by children who use Facebook and Instagram, and enhance measures to prevent children from accessing age-restricted content So meta won. The only thing I'm asking for is better control over my social media. Let me remove infinite scroll on Instagram and don't show me things I have explicitly followed on Facebook. And do this setting by default and a cig…

"So meta won."

Unless we make sure in print to specify "Meta, the company found to have harmed children, …".

Re: Meta reaches $17B settlement over social media harms to children

#140

Post by philipallstar »

hugodan wrote: post #16

still feels like they got away easy for raping children's minds "Meta has long argued it could not have misled consumers about whether its services were addictive because "social media addiction" is not a recognized psychiatric condition." that's a nice escape hatch, considering that they are using all the tricks in the book (from online gambling, etc) and then some

The real trick was convincing parents to buy devices for their kids. That's by far the worst thing he's ever done.
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