Meta’s $12 Billion Settlement May Actually Help It—and Hurt Rivals
Did Meta's Big Settlement Actually Help It?
Meta’s landmark settlement with 47 states over teen social media use looks like a big hit, but the fine is spread over a decade and amounts to less than 1% of annual revenue. The real twist: Meta agreed to pay an extra $5 billion only if Snap, TikTok, and YouTube face similar penalties and product changes, a move that could handicap competitors and boost Meta’s own business.
The company agreed to pay an additional $5 billion, but only if Snap, TikTok and YouTube, a Google platform, pay similar penalties and make comparable changes to their products.
- JohnnyLarue
It's laundering even more support for the age certification system they already wanted. So, yes.
- lenerdenator
Of course it did.
It let them off the hook for a small fraction of the cost they would have incurred should the jury have come back with a verdict assigning liability to Meta, and Zuckerberg didn't have to take the stand.
In the words of Bender Bending Rodriguez, "Wa-hoo, the system fails again!"
- ChrisArchitect
Related:
Meta reaches $17B settlement over social media harms to children
- fritolayofcouns
I think our justice system is arguably the bad guy here.
Parents need to tell their kids to put the phone down.
Instead they abnegate this duty, and lawyers treat Facebook like a money piñata.
Doritos make people fat, so why shouldn't we sue Frito Lay for billions?
Cars allow you to drive fast and crash, let's sue carmakers.
And so on...
Our justice system is just one big scam. It finds a big, rich corporation, greedy plaintiffs looking for a lottery ticket, and a "jury of peers" in friendly jurisdiction.
Facebook sucks but if your child is addicted to their phone take the phone away.
The litigation lottery our legal system has devolved into is a total joke. This is a nightmare for second and third order effects.
- yoyohello13
Paying pocket change over the course of 10 years certainly didn't hurt Meta. So what was the point really? To further embolden companies to do whatever they want and at worst they get a slap on the wrist? The US legal system is a joke.