Meta and US states discuss settlement in landmark social media trial: report

Deutsche Tageszeitung - Meta and US states discuss settlement in landmark social media trial: report

ECONOMY 26.08.2026

Meta and US states discuss settlement in landmark social media trial: report / Photo: © AFP/File

Social media giant Meta has been in discussions with multiple US states to settle a major child privacy and consumer protection case out of court, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.

Change text size:

With more than three billion users around the world, Meta is fending off accusations by a coalition of 29 states that it deliberately designed its products to hook children and gather their data while misleading the public.

The states are claiming that Meta violated both state-level and federal laws, though the exact allegations vary by state.

If Meta loses the case, the states could ask for around $200 billion in penalties, in addition to forcing the tech company to make changes to its products.

"Meta Platforms Inc. and state attorneys general have discussed a possible mid-trial settlement," Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.

California, Colorado, New Jersey and Kentucky are leading the prosecution of Meta from a courtroom in Oakland, just a short drive from San Francisco.

Multiple state attorneys general sent out media advisories late Tuesday that they would hold press conferences on Wednesday regarding consumer protections and tech-related announcements.

Colorado said it would announce "a major update in a Big Tech case."

Nevada, which is not involved with the trial in California, said it would make an announcement Wednesday regarding a "settlement" with "a leading technology company."

Representatives for Meta and California Attorney General Rob Bonta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Instagram boss Adam Mosseri took the stand on Tuesday as the trial entered its second week.

Mosseri admitted he touted newly launched safety tools for teens without disclosing low adoption rates from early testing several years ago.

Other witnesses have testified over the past week that Meta knew these tools were not effective and even that they were "designed to fail."

Meta founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg was expected to testify at some point, as well.

(V.Sørensen--DTZ)

UK Taxpayers Warned to Verify Codes Before April 2027 Savings Rate Hike

Harvey Dhillon, founder of Zmartly, advises UK residents to verify their HM Revenue and Customs tax codes immediately. This precaution is critical as the government proposes raising savings interest tax rates by two percentage points starting in April 2027, potentially increasing annual liabilities for millions of taxpayers.

Mutual fund returns show shifting leaders across market-cap categories

Equity mutual funds are classified into different categories based on their investments across market capitalisations, primarily large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap funds. Large-cap funds invest in well-established companies that tend to be relatively less volatile, while mid-cap funds focus on medium-sized companies.

BHEL wins Adani Power projects valued at up to ₹28,000 crore

New Delhi, Nov 4 (PTI) State-owned BHEL on Wednesday said the company has received four projects, worth ranging between Rs 20,000 crore and Rs 28,000 crore, from Adani Power. The fresh orders involve supply of equipment (boiler, turbine and generator along with auxiliaries) and agreed services for the said projects, BHEL said in an exchange filing.

IndiGo holds talks with Embraer over potential order for 100 aircraft

By Abhijith Ganapavaram and Aditi Shah NEW DELHI, Nov 4 (Reuters) - India's largest airline IndiGo is in early-stage talks to ‌buy 100 regional jets from Embraer, with options for about ⁠50 more, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said, in what could ‌be one largest commercial aircraft orders placed with the Brazilian planemaker. IndiGo ‌and Embraer did not immediately respond ‌to ⁠requests for comments.