Why this week's social media verdicts could finally hold tech giants to account
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Back-to-back verdicts this week against Meta and YouTube could usher in a new chapter in accountability for tech companies, while opening the door to fresh legal challenges, experts tell CBS News. Edited by Aimee Picchi In:
Back-to-back verdicts this week against Meta and YouTube could usher in a new chapter in accountability for tech companies, while opening the door to fresh legal challenges, experts tell CBS News.
Two cases, decided in New Mexico and California, are the first to hold social media companies liable for harming young people.
On Tuesday, a New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million in civil penalties for failing to protect young users from predators and misleading them about the safety of its apps.
In a separate verdict issued Wednesday in Los Angeles, a jury ruled that Meta and YouTube were negligent in how they designed and operated their platforms, resulting in mental health harm to the plaintiff, a 20-year-old named Kaley, or "KGM." Jurors in that case ordered the companies to pay a total of $6 million in damages.
Meta and YouTube told CBS News they disagree with the verdicts and are planning to appeal.
The rate of population growth in U.S. metro areas diminished nationwide in 2025, with those along the U.S.-Mexico border seeing the steepest dropoffs, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The agency primarily attributed the losses to declining immigration as well as hurricanes that prompted people to leave parts of the Gulf Coast. In:
The TSA's top official says the situation at U.S. airports could get even worse if the partial government shutdown that has frozen officers' paychecks continues. In:
Washington — The House Ethics Committee on Thursday will hold a rare public "trial" for Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida, who is accused of stealing $5 million in federal pandemic funds and using some of the money to boost her congressional campaign.
As wealth taxes gain traction around the U.S., Sen. Elizabeth Warren is introducing a new bill that the Massachusetts Democrat said would raise trillions in federal revenue by placing new levies on people worth over $50 million. Edited by Alain Sherter In:
President Trump suggested late Wednesday he's avoiding describing the military conflict with Iran as a "war" because of concerns around the fact that Congress hasn't authorized military force. In:
All but four of the passengers injured in Sunday's deadly collision between an Air Canada plane and a fire truck have been released from the hospital, the airline said Wednesday, as crews began moving the mangled aircraft off the runway at New York's LaGuardia Airport. In:
President Trump will soon nominate a permanent director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, its acting chief, National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, told agency employees at a Wednesday staff meeting. In:
The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday opened applications for a major resilience grant program that the agency canceled last year, less than three weeks after a federal judge ordered FEMA to make the funding available. In:
From missed doctor's appointments to lost wages, Minneapolis and St. Paul residents faced widespread disruptions to their daily lives when the White House deployed thousands of federal immigration agents to their cities, a University of San Diego survey released this week found. In:
The U.S. Postal Service is temporarily hiking postage prices to account for surging fuel costs caused by the Iran war, the agency announced on Wednesday. Edited by Alain Sherter In:
A panel of appeals court judges handed the Trump administration a major legal victory on Wednesday in its quest to detain large swaths of immigrants living in the country illegally, saying that people who entered the United States without inspection and admission can be detained without bond. Jonah Kaplan and Camilo Montoya-Galvez contributed to this report.
The White House has rejected an offer from billionaire Elon Musk to fund pay TSA workers during a partial government shutdown that has disrupted airport travelers across the country, several sources told CBS News. Kristin Brown and Kathryn Krupnik contributed to this report. In:
Washington — The Justice Department has reached a settlement with former Trump national security official and right-wing activist Michael Flynn after he sued the department, alleging that he was wrongly prosecuted during the first Trump administration. In: