Examining How Modern Technology Impacts Real People
If you hate Meta as much as I do, it’s been a day filled with good news. A day after Meta was fined $375M for lying about Child Safety protections, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and YouTube liable for intentionally designing addictive platforms that harmed a young woman’s mental health. The woman, identified as Kaley, … Read more
An article published in NBC News reports that a New Mexico jury has ordered Meta to pay $375 million in civil penalties for violating the state’s consumer protection law. The case centered on allegations that Meta misled users about safety on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp while enabling child sexual exploitation on its platforms. The “We … Read more
An article published in The Guardian examines findings from the 2026 World Happiness Report, which analyzed how different types of social media platforms affect mental health across 17 countries. The research found that algorithm-driven apps like Instagram and TikTok are significantly more harmful to users’ wellbeing than connection-focused platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook. Not All … Read more
An investigation published in Svenska Dagbladet reveals that Meta’s AI-powered Ray-Ban smart glasses send intimate user footage, including bathroom visits, nudity, and sexual encounters, to low-wage data workers in Kenya who annotate the videos to train Meta’s AI systems. Workers at the subcontractor Sama report seeing bank details, private conversations, and deeply personal moments captured … Read more
An article published in Dexerto highlights a 2024 study from China’s Zhejiang University that found a direct correlation between heavy consumption of short-form video content, such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, and reduced executive control in the brain. The research, which monitored 48 participants using EEG technology during cognitive tests, showed that people … Read more
An article published by BBC News examines a landmark legal battle in India over WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy, which forces users to share their data with Meta for advertising or stop using the app entirely. India’s Supreme Court has ordered WhatsApp to give users control over how their data is shared and criticized the company … Read more
An article from The Guardian, titled “US authorities reportedly investigate claims that Meta can read encrypted WhatsApp messages”, reveals that US authorities are looking into allegations that Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, may be able to access users’ encrypted messages. The report stems from a lawsuit claiming Meta can access “virtually all” private communications … Read more
In a recent article titled Bombshell report exposes how Meta relied on scam ad profits to fund AI by Ars Technica, it has come to light through internal documents that Meta has profited significantly from scam advertisements to fuel its artificial intelligence initiatives. The report details how Meta’s ad systems targeted users most likely to … Read more