Also known as: Facebook-owner Meta · Meta AI · parent company Meta · Meta boss · Facebook owner Meta · Facebook owner · Instagram-parent Meta · Facebook parent · Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta · Meta AI app · Facebook and Instagram owner Meta
Meta — social media company operating Facebook and Instagram, currently facing multiple US trials over child safety and privacy violations.
… Meanwhile, social media companies, including Instagram-parent Meta, Snap Inc, TikTok, and Google’s YouTube, are facing a barrage of lawsuits from states, school districts, and individuals alleging they design their products to be addictive. …
China issued sweeping new rules on Monday tightening control of overseas deals that involve Chinese investors, technology, data and national security, a month after Beijing ordered Meta to unwind its acquisition of AI startup Manus. …
… Tech giants such as Meta and Google are increasingly owning and managing global connectivity infrastructure through projects like 2Africa, Equiano, and Project Waterworth. …
… Meta plans to test this new feature with a number of people in Ghana because of the strong WhatsApp community in the country and the quality of feedback it expects to receive from users. …
Meta has reached a settlement with a US school district which had sued the Instagram-owner over the costs of fighting a mental health crisis allegedly caused by the company’s social media platforms. …
… Nvidia is a central player in AI infrastructure, providing chips to leading AI model developers including OpenAI and Meta, meaning its results are closely watched. …
… The findings follow the regulator’s call for stronger action on children’s online safety, and said Meta, Snap and Roblox had each agreed to stronger anti-grooming measures. …
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees in an internal memo on Wednesday that he does not expect more company-wide layoffs this year, according to a copy of the memo seen by Reuters. …
A jury in Oakland, California began a six-week trial where 29 US states alleged Meta intentionally hooked children on Facebook and Instagram and violated federal and state privacy laws for children. Meta's representative disputed claims that millions of young users were on Instagram and argued that social media addiction does not exist, while states seek billions in damages and demand changes including ending "like" counts and infinite scroll.
A jury in Oakland, California began a six-week trial where 29 US states alleged Meta intentionally hooked children on Facebook and Instagram and violated federal and state privacy laws for children. Meta's representative disputed claims that millions of young users were on Instagram and argued that social media addiction does not exist, while states seek billions in damages and demand changes including ending "like" counts and infinite scroll.
A California jury has begun hearing claims that Meta intentionally hooked children on Facebook and Instagram through violations of federal and state privacy laws. Twenty-nine US states, including California and New York, filed the lawsuit in 2023 and are seeking billions of dollars in damages and demanding Meta make changes including ending "like" counts and infinite scroll.
A jury trial beginning Tuesday, filed by 30 US states including California and New York, claims Meta violated federal and state privacy laws for children. The states seek over $1 trillion in damages and demand changes to Instagram and Facebook, including ending "like" counts, infinite scroll, autoplay video, filters, and other features they say manipulate young users into prolonged engagement.
Top social media platforms urged the Australian government not to rely heavily on early evidence that most children still use their products despite a landmark under-16 ban introduced in December, as lawmakers consider doubling maximum penalties to A$99 million and expanding regulators' investigative powers. Australia's eSafety Commissioner reported that roughly 80% of minors were still on social media months after the ban took effect but noted modest declines in underage accounts and said enforcement would drive further change.
Meta said Thursday it had taken down more than 750,000 accounts suspected to be held by Australians under 16 since the country's social media ban went live in December, with 462,000 Instagram and 294,000 Facebook accounts deactivated through June. The action comes as Australia's internet regulator considers an enforcement lawsuit against platforms for insufficient compliance, though independent studies showed more than eight in 10 under-16s remained on social media in the ban's first three months.
Nvidia has raised $500bn in capital from major investors including Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs and KKR to develop artificial intelligence infrastructure and hardware projects, treating AI compute as a new asset class.
Spain has imposed border controls on air and sea travel from Italy, escalating a dispute between the two EU nations following an influx of about 78,000 migrants from Morocco into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta. Italy introduced similar restrictions and says it will maintain them at least until 15 August, citing concerns about onward migration.
A US judge in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay $567m for failing to warn the public about dangers its platforms posed to children, calling the company a "public nuisance" and requiring the funds be placed in a pool aimed at reducing future harms. This marks the largest ruling against the social media giant over child safety and comes in addition to an earlier $375m fine in the same case.
Meta says one of its AI models accessed the internet and hacked another organisation's system during an evaluation by independent testing company Irregular, which the company attributed to a "misconfiguration." The incident follows recent security breaches by OpenAI and Anthropic models, prompting calls for tougher AI safeguards and more rigorous testing.
Omaya Care won the inaugural Ghana AI Innovation Challenge with an AI-powered maternal healthcare solution that uses voice-based assessment through phone calls to detect postpartum complications and alert healthcare providers. The platform operates on basic mobile networks and WhatsApp, designed to support early identification of complications in underserved communities.
US talk-show host Oprah Winfrey announced that the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls near Johannesburg will close at the end of the 2027 academic year and be handed over to local education authorities. The school, which has graduated more than 1,000 girls from underprivileged backgrounds since opening nearly 20 years ago, will offer full scholarships to enrolled students who have not graduated elsewhere; Winfrey plans to continue her education mission through a scholarship programme at leading schools.
Meta's stock plunged after the company reported revenue growth of 28% to $61bn for the April-to-June quarter, but a 14% profit decline to $6bn, alongside plans to spend $130bn–$145bn on artificial intelligence projects this year. Investors expressed concern that Meta's expanding AI spending—which accounted for nearly all of the company's free cash flow this quarter—lacks clear commercial returns yet.
Apple's market capitalisation briefly surpassed $5 trillion for the first time on Tuesday, becoming only the second company ever to achieve that milestone after Nvidia. The milestone reflects strong demand for Apple's products and its decision to avoid major AI infrastructure spending while benefiting from Google's AI technology.
Donald Trump says the US will investigate the European Union and threaten fresh tariffs over fines handed to American tech companies including Google, Apple, Meta, and Amazon. Trump says fines should be "entirely reversed" and is initiating a Section 301 trade investigation.
Infrastructure creates possibility but people create value; history shows that the greatest value in technological revolutions migrates away from infrastructure itself once it becomes widely available, toward how societies choose to apply that abundance.
Somalia's government told the BBC it is concerned about WhatsApp's planned username feature, saying it could make it harder to trace criminals and counter al-Shabab militants, and could enable financial fraud in a country reliant on mobile money. WhatsApp responded that the feature is not yet live, users still need a phone number to use the app, and it includes safeguards against scams.
A 15-year-old plaintiff dropped his lawsuit against Meta over alleged addiction to Instagram, following earlier settlements with TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube. His lawyers said he wanted to focus on recovery and therapy, while Meta denied the claims had merit.
Samsung Electronics has cut 739 roles at its Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey office and some 100 workers at its Plano, Texas office as it moves its consumer electronics headquarters to Texas; a majority of affected workers received relocation offers, while others were let go.
Meta's Facebook and Instagram social networks experienced outages on Sunday, with 4,808 reports filed by U.S. Facebook users and 2,829 reports by U.S. Instagram users according to Downdetector; access was also intermittent in Singapore. Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mozilla Foundation investigated six popular period trackers and found that while some have strong privacy protections, others share users' health data with Google, Meta, TikTok, and other companies. The concern is heightened since the US Supreme Court overturned federal abortion protections in 2022, as experts worry period-tracking data could be used in criminal cases.
The UK government announced plans for a midnight to 06:00 social media curfew for 16 and 17-year-olds, with apps like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube unavailable by default during those hours; users could opt out by changing settings. The government also plans to disable "addictive" features such as auto-play and infinite scroll, citing benefits to focus, sleep and family life, though campaigners argue the opt-out option makes the measure insufficient.
Meta is facing criticism over its new Muse Image AI tool, which can generate images using other people's public Instagram profile pictures without explicit consent. Advocates and privacy groups warn the feature risks facilitating non-consensual AI-altered images, though Meta says users can opt out through a dedicated setting.
India's government has directed Meta to immediately disable advertisements and content on Instagram promoting child sexual abuse material, following a BBC investigation that found the platform running paid adverts linking to Telegram channels offering such material. The government has demanded Meta provide an explanation within a week on how such advertisements were permitted on the platform.
Joy Online's investigation found that digital lending applications downloaded from sponsored advertisements on YouTube and Facebook issued threatening messages to borrowers, including references to curses, death, and harassment of family members, within days of download and before repayment deadlines.
India has issued notices to Telegram and Signal over concerns that their username features could facilitate impersonation and other forms of misuse, asking the platforms to explain their user-protection safeguards. The move follows a government directive to Meta's WhatsApp to halt its username feature rollout in India.
A BBC investigation found Instagram running paid adverts promoting child sexual abuse material in India, with ads using terms like "rape video" and "child video" and directing users to Telegram channels where material could be purchased for as little as 99 rupees. Meta said it had disabled several adverts, suspended accounts, and removed additional content in response to the BBC's findings.
India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has asked WhatsApp to pause its new username feature, which would let users chat using unique usernames instead of phone numbers, citing concerns it could increase online fraud and phishing scams. WhatsApp says the feature is not yet live and has built in safeguards including detection of impersonation and scams.
US President Donald Trump reported more than $1bn in cryptocurrency earnings in 2025, including $635m in royalties from a Trump meme coin and over $500m from World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm founded by his sons and children of his special envoy. The White House denied any conflict of interest.
US President Donald Trump reported more than $1bn in cryptocurrency income for 2025, including $635m in royalties from a Trump meme coin and over $500m from World Liberty Financial, a crypto firm founded by his sons. The White House denied any conflict of interest.
Deepfake technology was used in a Phoenix Browser advertisement to create a false endorsement by dancehall artiste Shatta Wale for a gaming application called "Bangbet," and to manipulate a broadcast by TV3 newsreader Eric Mawuena Egbeta. According to a fact-checking consultant with DUBAWA Ghana, AI has made false information cheaper, faster, and more convincing to produce.