Category: Facebook

Facebook and US Sign Deal to End Discriminatory Housing Ads

NEW YORK—Facebook will change its algorithms to prevent discriminatory housing advertising and its parent company will subject itself to court oversight to settle a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday. In a release, U.S. government officials said it had reached agreement with Meta Platforms Inc., formerly known as Facebook Inc., to…


Meta Settles With US Department of Justice Over Discriminatory Advertising Allegations

Facebook’s parent company Meta and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) have agreed to a settlement over allegations the company engaged in discriminatory advertising. Facebook discriminated by offering advertisers an algorithm that enabled advertisers to target ads to users based on their looks, sex, religion, and interests, according to a federal lawsuit. That violated the Fair…


Trump Attorney Weighs in on Facebook, Instagram Lawsuits Alleging Intentional Teen Addiction

An Alabama law firm has filed lawsuits in eight states against Meta Platforms alleging that Facebook and Instagram are defective and enable social media addiction. “These platforms are designed to keep people engaged as much as possible,” said Beasley Allen attorney Joseph van Zandt. “The more time the user spends on the platform, the more…


US Sets High Bar to Settle Facebook Antitrust Suit: FTC Chair

WASHINGTON—Federal Trade Commission Chair (FTC) Lina Khan, who promised tougher antitrust enforcement, said she would not rule out a settlement with Meta’s Facebook, which the agency sued in 2020, but indicated there was a high bar for any agreement. In an interview on Tuesday, she also criticized what she said was a large number obviously…


Meta Names Guy Rosen Chief Information Security Officer

WASHINGTON—Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. has named a company vice president as chief information security officer (CISO), the first person to fill that role at the social media company. Guy Rosen, who has been at Facebook since 2013 and most recently led the company’s product safety and integrity efforts, said on Twitter in his new…


An Unfriendly Facebook Legacy

Commentary Facebook may have begun as just a social networking platform, but over the course of Sheryl Sandberg’s tenure, it has become much more than that. As chief operating officer of Meta, Facebook’s parent company since 2008, Sandberg has played a huge role in the social network leader’s growth and the dominant global position that…


Facebook Sister App Messenger Refines Calling Feature

Meta Platforms Inc. has brought in a user-friendly feature to its Messenger app for iOS and Android users. The social media giant’s mobile Messenger app now has a dedicated “Calls” tab that will track each call a user makes or receives in the app in one place, the Verge first reported. This feature is being…


Sheryl Sandberg to Step Down as COO of Facebook Parent Company Meta

Sheryl Sandberg, the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook’s parent company Meta, said on Wednesday that she’s leaving this fall after 14 years with the company. “Over the next few months, Mark [Zuckerberg] and I will transition my direct reports and I will leave the company this fall,” she said in a long statement on social…


Ditch the Phone

“This past year, American teens and pre-teens spent an average of nine hours per day in front of a screen.” So writes Auguste Meyrat, a teacher, in his online article about tech addiction and our young people. They “are glued to their devices, playing video games, scrolling through social media, and streaming videos.” The harm…


Facebook, Instagram to Reveal More on How Ads Target Users

WASHINGTON—Facebook parent Meta said it will start publicly providing more details about how advertisers target people with political ads just months ahead of the U.S. midterm elections. The announcement follows years of criticism that the social media platforms withhold too much information about how campaigns, special interest groups and politicians use the platform to target…