Connect with us

Entertainment

US jury finds Meta and Google liable in social media addiction trial

Published

on

US jury finds Meta and Google liable in social media addiction trial


 A 3D printed Meta logo is seen in front of displayed Google logo in this illustration taken on November 2, 2021. — Reuters

A Los Angeles jury found Alphabet’s Google and Meta liable for $3m in damages on Wednesday in a landmark social media addiction lawsuit that will influence thousands of similar cases against the tech companies.

Punitive damages for the companies will be decided next. The jury may consider whether Google or Meta’s products caused the plaintiff physical harm or whether the companies disregarded the health of other users, Judge Carolyn Kuhl said in court.

The case involves a 20-year-old woman who said she became addicted to Google’s YouTube and Meta’s Instagram at a young age because of their attention-grabbing design. The jury found Google and Meta were negligent in the design of both apps and failed to warn about their dangers.

“Today’s verdict is a referendum — from a jury, to an entire industry — that accountability has arrived,” the plaintiff’s lead counsel said in a statement.

Shares of Meta were up 1% and Alphabet shares were up 0.2%, little changed after the verdict.

Meta disagrees with the verdict and its lawyers are “evaluating our legal options,” a company spokesperson said. Google plans to appeal, said company spokesperson José Castañeda.

The plaintiffs in the Los Angeles proceeding focused on platform design rather than content, making it harder for the companies to avert liability.

Snap and TikTok were also defendants in the trial. Both were settled with the plaintiff before it began. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed.

Mounting criticism

Large technology companies in the US have faced mounting criticism in the last decade over child and teen safety. The debate has now shifted to courts and state governments. The US Congress has declined to pass comprehensive legislation regulating social media.

At least 20 states enacted laws last year on social media usage and children, according to the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures, an organisation that tracks state laws.

The legislation includes bills that regulate the use of cellphones in schools and require users to verify their ages to open a social media account. NetChoice, a trade association backed by tech companies such as Meta and Google, is seeking to invalidate age verification requirements in court.

A separate social media addiction case brought by several states and school districts against technology companies is expected to go to trial this summer in federal court in Oakland, California.

Another state trial is slated to begin in Los Angeles in July, said Matthew Bergman, one of the attorneys leading the cases for the plaintiffs. It will involve Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat.

Separately, a New Mexico jury on Tuesday found Meta violated state law in a lawsuit brought by the state’s attorney general, who accused the company of misleading users about the safety of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp and of enabling child sexual exploitation on those platforms.





Source link

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Entertainment

Savannah Guthrie is returning to “Today” show on April 6, NBC says

Published

on

Savannah Guthrie is returning to “Today” show on April 6, NBC says


“Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie will return to the program on April 6, host Hoda Kotb announced on the program’s Friday broadcast. 

The investigation into the disappearance of Guthrie’s mother, Nancy Guthrie, is still continuing. In an interview on “Today,” Savannah Guthrie made a tearful plea for someone “to do the right thing” and share information to help solve the case. 

It has been nearly two months since authorities believe Nancy Guthrie, 84, was taken from her Tucson, Arizona, home after she was last seen on the night of Jan. 31. 

In a portion of the interview with Kotb that aired Friday, Savannah Guthrie said she wants to return to the show “because it’s my family.”

“I think it’s part of my purpose right now. I want to smile. And when I do, it will be real. And my joy will be my protest. My joy will be my answer. And being there is joyful,” Guthrie said. 

She added, “I consider this my family, my greater family, and when times are hard, you want to be with your family and I want to be with my family. And so, I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t know if I’ll belong anymore, but I would like to try.”

Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance

Nancy Guthrie was reported missing on Sunday, Feb. 1, the morning after she had dinner at her daughter Annie’s house and was dropped off back at her own home for the night. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told CBS News he believes she was abducted in the middle of the night, and he has also said family members and their spouses have all been ruled out as possible suspects.

Evidence later showed that a doorbell camera at Nancy Guthrie’s home disconnected at 1:47 a.m. Images and video retrieved from the camera system’s data and released by the FBI showed a man in a face mask, gloves and backpack at her door overnight.

No suspects have been named in the case. The Guthrie family is offering a $1 million reward for information leading to Nancy Guthrie’s recovery. The FBI is also offering a separate reward of $100,000.

Savannah Guthrie’s appeals

Savannah Guthrie has made several appeals for people with information about her mother to come forward, including a tearful plea in a two-part interview this week on “Today.”

“We are in agony. We are in agony,” an emotional Guthrie told Kotb in a clip released Wednesday. “It is unbearable, and to think of what she went through, I wake up every night in the middle of the night, every night, and in the darkness, I imagine her terror, and it is unthinkable, but those thoughts demand to be thought.”

She and her siblings have also released video pleas on social media.

As authorities continued to search for her mother, Guthrie stepped back from her duties at NBC, including dropping out of hosting the network’s 2026 Winter Olympics broadcast last month.

“Someone needs to do the right thing,” Savannah Guthrie said in Wednesday’s clip. She also said, “I will not hide my face, but she needs to come home now.”



Source link

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Prince William bold decision keeps Harry up at night: ‘No mercy’

Published

on

Prince William bold decision keeps Harry up at night: ‘No mercy’


Prince Harry has been losing sleep over Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet’s future risks, particularly following his estranged brother Prince William’s recent powerful move.

The Prince of Wales’ bold decision regarding Andrew caused serious tension for the Duke of Sussex about his and little Sussex’s royal future.

Royal commentator Tom Bower, in his book Betrayal: Power, Deceit And The Fight For The Future Of The Royal Family, made several claims, and one is about Harry’s growing fears for Archie and Lilibet’s titles in William’s reign.

After witnessing the royal family, especially William’s stern actions against Andrew after he portrayed the monarchy in a negative light, Harry anticipates the future King’s wrath.

Tom penned, “The tremors of the unprecedented sanctions against Andrew must have shocked Harry. In public, he remained silent. In private, he realised that his own royal status was no longer invincible.”

The royal expert warned, “Clearly, William was taking no prisoners. Once he was crowned as king, his brother might well show no mercy to him and Meghan.”

Harry knows that the Prince and Princess of Wales still have grievances regarding the Sussexes’ bombshell move to air their family’s drama to the public.

Talking about Meghan, Tom said, “William would undoubtedly rail against her disloyalty. He might even strip Archie and Lilibet of their titles.”





Source link

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Megan Thee Stallion teases new song with Cardi B: ‘Definitely gonna happen’

Published

on

Megan Thee Stallion teases new song with Cardi B: ‘Definitely gonna happen’


Megan Thee Stallion opens up about her friendship with Cardi B 

Megan Thee Stallion is excited to collaborate with Cardi B again.

The Grammy-winning rapper has been on a career high this week, making her Broadway debut as the first female Zidler in Moulin Rouge, and a surprise new collaboration with Nickelback on the Cheetos Dill Pickle promo song, Pickle’s Back

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight on Wednesday, March 25, Megan teased what’s next: a long-awaited collaboration with her “girl,” Cardi B.

“Don’t worry about that, don’t worry about that,” she said with a smirk when asked about a possible collaboration with the Bodack Yellow rapper. “This is going to happen again. This is definitely going to happen again. Now, when it’s going to happen, I’m not telling you,” she teased.

The hip-hop icons first collaborated on Cardi’s 2020 hit, WAP. Three years later, they came together for Bongos. More recently, they reunited on stage at Cardi’s ongoing Little Miss Drama tour during a stop in Megan’s hometown of Houston, Texas.

“It was great, I love performing with Cardi,” Megan told ET about the performance. “She’s amazing. Every time we link up, it’s like, we don’t have to see each other for a long time, but every time I see her it’s like, I just saw you yesterday. We just pick back up where we left off from. That’s my girl,” she gushed.

“We’re both authentic, and we both are ourselves. We just both like to laugh, so we don’t really take anything too seriously,” Megan added.

Cardi also gushed over Megan following the performance, sharing a picture of the duo backstage on her Instagram Stories and writing, “I love you so so so so so sooooooo much.” 





Source link

Continue Reading

Trending