Meta deliberately targeted young users, ensnaring them with addictive tech, states claim
CBSN
The company that owns Facebook and Instagram has tailored both social media platforms to keep children and teenagers engaged on their platforms for as long as possible in order to gather personal data and sell it to advertisers, a group of state prosecutors said Monday.
Attorneys general in 33 states filed a federal lawsuit against Meta in October, the details of which were not immediately released. States on Monday unveiled more specifics from the previously redacted complaint. The states accuse Meta of harming young users on Facebook and Instagram through the use of highly manipulative algorithms and technological tools deliberately deployed by Meta to attract and sustain engagement, as it collected personal information for advertisers, including from children without parental consent — which is required by law.
Compulsive use of Facebook or IG by teens and children can cause physical and mental harm, according to the 233-page complaint.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden were honored at a state dinner in Paris at the Presidential Elysee Palace on Saturday, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and first lady Brigitte Macron marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day two days prior and the strength of the countries' long alliance.
President Joe Biden said France was America's "first friend" at its founding and is one of its closest allies more than two centuries later as he was honored with a state visit Saturday by French President Emmanuel Macron aimed at showing off their partnership on global security issues and easing past trade tensions.
The Consumer Federal Protection Bureau last week launched an inquiry into what the agency is calling "junk fees in mortgage closing costs." These additional fees, involving home appraisal, title insurance and other services, have spiked in recent years and can add thousands of dollars to the final cost of buying a home.
Retired Maj. Gen. William Anders, the former Apollo 8 astronaut who took the iconic "Earthrise" photo showing the planet as a shadowed blue marble from space in 1968, was killed Friday when the plane he was piloting alone plummeted into the waters off the San Juan Islands in Washington state. He was 90.