Meta Kills a Crucial Transparency Tool At the Worst Possible Time

Earlier this month, Meta announced that it would be shutting down CrowdTangle, the social media monitoring and transparency tool that has allowed journalists and researchers to track the spread of mis- and disinformation. It will cease to function on August 14, 2024—just months before the US presidential election. Meta’s move is just the latest example … Read more

The EU Targets Apple, Meta, and Alphabet for Investigations Under New Tech Law

Apple is among three tech giants being investigated for failing to comply with the European Union’s new competition rules, in another blow to the embattled smartphone maker. Apple was the primary focus of an EU press conference on Monday morning. But authorities also opened formal investigations into Meta and Alphabet, Google’s parent company. The trio … Read more

Instagram moves to limit political content

Instagram has moved to limit political content, with users now having to go into their settings on the app to turn the limiting feature off. Users of the popular social media platform now have to go into their settings under “[c]ontent preferences,” click “[p]olitical content,” and choose the option to not “limit political content from … Read more

YouTube, Facebook, Reddit must face lawsuits from Buffalo shooting survivors

A New York judge ruled that a handful of social media companies must face lawsuits from survivors of the Buffalo grocery store shooting in 2022 that left 10 people dead.  An Erie Supreme Court judge ruled that social media companies — including YouTube, Meta and Reddit —must face lawsuits that have been brought against them … Read more

Meta’s stock drops after Trump calls Facebook ‘an enemy of the people’ 

The stock of Meta Platforms dropped Monday after former President Trump labeled Facebook as “an enemy of the people” earlier that day. Shares for Meta, the parent company of Facebook, dropped by about 4.5 percent to just under $484 after Trump’s Monday interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” Forbes reported that this was the lowest closing for Meta … Read more

41 state AGs press Meta on ‘dramatic increase’ in account lockouts, takeovers

A group of 41 state attorneys general are demanding that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, provide support for users because there has been a “dramatic increase” in accounts on its platforms being locked and taken over. The letter, addressed to Meta’s chief legal officer, Jennifer Newstead, requested immediate action to address the … Read more

This Senator Wants to Know What Meta and TikTok Are Doing About Parent-Run Girl Influencer Accounts

In January, the CEOs of X, TikTok, Meta, Snap, and Discord testified in front of a congressional committee about child exploitation on their platforms. “Mr. Zuckerberg, you and the companies before us, I know you don’t mean it to be so, but you have blood on your hands,” Senator Lindsey Graham said at the time. … Read more

Europe’s Digital Markets Act Is Breaking Open the Empires of Big Tech

Citizens of the European Union live in an internet built and ruled by foreign powers. Most people in the EU use an American search engine, shop on an American ecommerce site, thumb American phones, and scroll through American social media feeds. That fact has triggered increasing alarm in the corridors of Brussels, as the EU … Read more

Meta Abandons Hacking Victims, Draining Law Enforcement Resources, Officials Say

Forty-one state attorneys general penned a letter to Meta’s top attorney on Wednesday saying complaints are skyrocketing across the United States about Facebook and Instagram user accounts being stolen, and declaring “immediate action” necessary to mitigate the rolling threat. The coalition of top law enforcement officials, spearheaded by New York attorney general Letitia James, says … Read more