 Technology |
Technology |
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Zuckerberg role in teen safety plans revealed in lawsuit |
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg allegedly halted proposals aimed at improving Facebook and Instagram's impact on teen mental health, according to internal communications revealed as part of unsealed court documents. |
Zuckerberg allegedly vetoed plans to ban filters that simulate plastic surgery on Meta-owned platforms, according to the unredacted lawsuit filed by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell (D), He also allegedly ignored requests from top executives to boost investments in teens' well-being. Experts have raised concerns about the ways certain filters — visual effects that can digitally alter a user's appearance — can harm teen mental health. Massachusetts is one of dozens of states to sue Meta last month, alleging the company knowingly designed and deployed features that harmed young users' mental health. The unredacted version of the complaint offers insight into the role Zuckerberg allegedly played in decisions about features for teens on the platform. Facebook and Instagram have been under immense scrutiny since whistleblower Frances Haugen came forward two years ago with internal company documents highlighting those concerns. A Meta spokesperson pushed back on the allegations in the complaint. "While filters exist across every major social platform and smartphone camera, Meta bans those that directly promote cosmetic surgery, changes in skin color or extreme weight loss. We clearly note when a filter is being used and we work to proactively review effects against these rules before they go live," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. The spokesperson also said the complaint is "filled with selective quotes from hand-picked documents that do not provide the full context of how the company operates or what decisions were made." Read more in a full report at The Hill.com. |
Welcome to The Hill's Technology newsletter, we're Rebecca Klar and Julia Shapero — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. |
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How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future: |
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The union representing Hollywood actors reached a tentative agreement with the major film and television studios Wednesday, spelling an end to its nearly four-month strike and an even longer work stoppage for the industry. SAG-AFTRA suspended the 118-day strike, the longest in the union's history, on Thursday at midnight. The tentative deal comes a little over a month after Hollywood writers, who began their own strike in May, … |
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| Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) is calling for the United States to register the video-sharing platform TikTok as a foreign agent, arguing that disinformation and hate is being spread "unchecked." “I’m also calling on the @DOJ to make TikTok register as a foreign agent to monitor China's use of TikTok as a propaganda machine to influence Americans and collect our data," Gottheimer wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "We … |
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Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), two of the Senate's most prominent conservatives, clashed on the floor Wednesday when Hawley requested unanimous consent to pass his bill to effectively bar TikTok from operating in the United States. Hawley's bill would do so by imposing sanctions on TikTok's parent company, ByteDance Limited. The Missouri senator cited a recent report by The New York Times that … |
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News we've flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics: |
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EU presses TikTok, YouTube on children's safety |
The European Union (EU) sent formal requests to TikTok and YouTube asking for information about the measures they take to keep children safe on their platforms, The Verge reported. |
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ChatGPT outages caused by cyberattack |
Recent ChatGPT outages were caused by a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, a type of cyberattack that floods a system with requests to slow or crash the network, Mashable reported. |
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Upcoming news themes and events we're watching: |
- The Brookings Institution will host a fireside chat featuring U.K. Secretary of State for Science Innovation and Technology Michelle Donelan about the future of the country's AI and online safety on Monday at 1:15 .m. ET.
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Branch out with other reads on The Hill: |
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Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak hospitalized in Mexico |
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak remained hospitalized Thursday in Mexico City following a "health problem" while he was in the city to speak at a business conference, according to a source close to the conference who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak … |
NEW YORK (AP) — Omegle, a video chat service that connects users with strangers at random, is shutting down after 14 years following ample misuse of the platform — particularly the sexual abuse of minors. In a lengthy statement announcing the site’s closure, founder Leif K-Brooks reflected … |
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Two key stories on The Hill right now: |
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A slimmed-down field of GOP presidential hopefuls took the stage in Miami on Wednesday for a third primary debate. Only five candidates qualified for … Read more |
| Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) ripped Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) in an interview Thursday, saying he doesn't think she has earned the right … Read more |
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Opinions related to tech submitted to The Hill: |
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You're all caught up. See you tomorrow! |
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