On Wednesday, a court in LA County found Meta — the parent company of Facebook — liable in the endangerment of children on its platform. It was the second major defeat for Meta in as many days. The day before, a landmark $375 million ruling against Meta in New Mexico had already given a new sense of urgency to the ongoing global showdown between child safety and privacy advocates.
Meta was found liable on all counts — including the central allegation of that case, that child endangerment was baked into the very design of Meta platforms. It was a total wash for the tech giant.
At the heart of the debate is the question of encryption: Can adults enjoy the peace of mind afforded by snooping-free communications, without allowing child predators to take advantage of the same technology? Part of this allegation related to Meta’s personalized algorithms, which in the words of one Meta engineer-turned-whistleblower, helped connect child predators to their victims.
Article link – Meta’s loss a victory for children — but major changes to privacy coming
