Australia is considering bringing court action against Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube after alleging they are not doing enough to keep Australian children younger than 16 off their platforms. Australia banned young children from holding accounts on 10 social media platforms in December. The first report from the eSAfety commission about compliance with the law was issued Tuesday. It found significant concerns with five platforms and was gathering evidence against them before deciding whether to initiate court action. The law also applies to Reddit, X, Kick, Threads and Twitch, but they aren't under investigation.
Artificial intelligence chatbots are so prone to flattering and validating their human users that they are giving bad advice that can damage relationships and reinforce harmful behaviors, according to a new study that explores the dangers of AI telling people what they want to hear. The study, published Thursday in the journal Science, tested 11 leading AI systems and found they all showed varying degrees of sycophancy — behavior that was overly agreeable and affirming. The problem is not just that they dispense inappropriate advice but that people trust and prefer AI more when the chatbots are justifying their convictions.
By KAITLYN HUAMANI and BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writers
A jury has found Meta and YouTube liable in a first-of-its-kind lawsuit that aimed to hold social media platforms responsible for harm to children using their services. The decision Wednesday came after more than 40 hours of deliberation across nine days and more than a month since jurors heard opening statements in the trial. The plaintiff is a 20-year-old woman identified as KGM in documents and her lawyers called her Kaley during the trial. She says she became addicted to social media as a child and that this addiction exacerbated her mental health struggles. The companies must pay her a total $6 million in damages.
A New Mexico jury finds that social media conglomerate Meta is harmful to children's mental health and in violation of state consumer protection law. The jury announced its verdict Tuesday after nearly seven weeks of trial. State prosecutors had accused Meta of placing profits over safety in violation of the state's Unfair Practices Act. Prosecutors also said the company failed to adequately monitor the platforms for child sexual exploitation. Attorneys for Meta had said the company discloses risks and makes efforts to weed out harmful content and experiences, while acknowledging that some bad material gets through its safety net. Meta owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp.
For years, social media companies have disputed allegations that they harm children's mental health through the way they design their platforms, deliberately addicting kids and failing to protect them from sexual predators and dangerous content. Now, these tech giants are getting a chance to make their case in courtrooms around the country, including before a jury for the first time. Some of the biggest players from Meta to TikTok are facing federal and state trials that seek to hold them responsible for harming children's mental health
By KAITLYN HUAMANI and BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writers
Mark Zuckerberg and opposing lawyers dueled in a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday, where the Meta CEO answered questions about young people's use of Instagram, his congressional testimony and internal advice he's received to be "authentic" and not "robotic." The plaintiff, a now 20-year-old woman, is seeking to hold social media companies responsible for harms to children who use their platforms. Meta and YouTube are the two remaining defendants in the case, which TikTok and Snap settled.
By KAITLYN HUAMANI and BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writers
Jurors in a landmark social media case that seeks to hold companies responsible for harms to children got their first glimpse into what will be a lengthy trial characterized by dueling narratives from the plaintiffs and the two remaining defendants, Meta and YouTube. At the core of the Los Angeles case is a 20-year-old identified only by the initials "KGM," whose case could determine how thousands of other, similar lawsuits against social media companies will play out. She and two other plaintiffs have been selected for bellwether trials — essentially test cases for both sides to see how their arguments play out before a jury.
By KAITLYN HUAMANI and BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writers
The world's biggest social media companies face several landmark trials this year that seek to hold them responsible for harms to children who use their platforms. Opening statements for the first, in Los Angeles County Superior Court, began on Monday. Instagram parent company Meta and Google's YouTube will face claims that their platforms deliberately addict and harm children. TikTok and Snap, which were originally named in the lawsuit, settled for undisclosed sums. This case marks the first time the companies will argue their case before a jury, and the outcome could have profound effects on their businesses and how they will handle children using their platforms.
When Amazon announced it was cutting 16,000 corporate jobs, many assumed it was the latest phase of CEO Andy Jassy's push to reduce the corporate workforce as AI brings more efficiency gains. But like other companies that have tied major workforce changes to AI — including Pinterest and Dow — it can be hard for economists, or individual employees, to know if AI is the real reason or the message a company wants to tell Wall Street. Amazon said in a statement that AI wasn't the reason "behind the vast majority" of the layoffs.
