Facebook found liable as TikTok settles for $100m over user safety

Facebook found liable in New Mexico for deceptive actions; TikTok settles $100m lawsuit with Alabama over safety claims.Two technology giants have faced legal setbacks involving cases over misleading consumers about user safety and privacy in the United States, with Facebook found liable by a jury and TikTok agreeing to pay a $100m settlement.Facebook was found to have violated 43 million state consumer protection laws by a jury in New Mexico on Friday. Meanwhile, on the same day, TikTok and ⁠⁠its ⁠⁠Chinese parent company, ByteDance, agreed to its first-ever settlement with a state just days before its scheduled trial in Alabama.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Parents who lost children to social media harms question Meta settlementlist 2 of 4Meta agrees to settlement, platform changes in youth addiction caselist 3 of 4Instagram chief testifies at Meta trial, says few teens used safety featurelist 4 of 4US lawmakers propose sweeping AI restrictions with superintelligence banend of listTikTok was accused by the Alabama attorney general’s office of intentionally designing the platform to be addictive and misleading consumers about its safety. The settlement comes as the social media company battles similar claims nationwide.Facebook, Cambridge Analytica scandalFacebook’s trial centred on claims that the company, owned by Meta, misled users about a data breach, harvesting data from about 87 million profiles through a third-party personality quiz and selling it to a political consulting firm to create targeted s.The now-defunct firm, Cambridge Analytica, used the data to help US President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign bid and intended to work with a pro-Brexit group.Jurors in New Mexico found the California-based social media company had deceived the public about investigations into third parties that harvest user data following the scandal.Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during preparation for the Facebook Communities Summit in Chicago. Zuckerberg embarked on a rare media mini-blitz on March 22, 2018, in the wake of a privacy scandal involving a Trump-connected data-mining firm [Nam Y. Huh/AP Photo]“The verdict marks a significant victory for New Mexico consumers and holds one of the world’s largest technology companies accountable for its conduct,” the state’s Department of Justice said in a statement on Friday.