Meta Owes $18 Billion for Ruining Society
When social media appeared in our lives, it was seen as something dystopic and cool. Modernity arrived to connect us with people around the globe as a tool of the globalized world. A person in the US could instantly talk with another one located in India, representing a major milestone for human development. That initial promise is exactly what made Facebook and Instagram the most downloaded applications in history. From teenagers to elders, the five continents are showing their curated lifestyle, meaningless personal development quotes, discontent, or artistic creations. Around two billion users have a profile; that’s almost a third of the population.
The total absence of serious regulation has helped Meta, the mother or father of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, to foster harmful practices. Even when experts and whistleblowers have exposed the dangers of Social Media algorithms, very few people deleted their apps, telling Mark Zuckerberg, “dude, you’re evil”. Instead, users remain hopelessly obsessed with the narcissistic parameters and cheap dopamine the platforms deliberately engineer to keep them scrolling, a behavioral trap that has been especially devastating for teenagers.
To counter the manipulative algorithm, Europe established a baseline for regulation with parental control and data protection through its Digital Service Act (DSA) in which very large online platforms (VLOP) and very large online search engines (VLOSEs) had to modify their services and content moderation with real transparency. Something that Zuckerberg is bad at. In the US, 29 states were filing lawsuits against Meta over severe child harm. What’s in them? Suicide, psychological disorders, depression, anxiety, cyberbullying, child pornography, etc. The damage extends to everyone who has suffered one way or another: the company’s deliberate negligence regarding hate speech, widespread misinformation, and foreign interference in elections, a legacy built by the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2016.
Regardless of the rampant problems, Zuckerberg did nothing to solve them until the justice system set the eye upon him. Last Wednesday, the US court sided with the 29 states against Meta. A staggering settlement of $18 billion. The tech giant is now required to implement child protection measures, including limits on hours of use, removing automated video playback, hiding like counts, and disabling stories. Yet the most important question about the settlement remains unanswered: who actually gets the money? The massive payout will be divided among the plaintiff states, with zero guarantee that a single cent will reach the victims who suffered the maltreatment.
Experts are now treating Meta's platforms with the same regulatory hostility as tobacco and alcohol. The applications should be legally required to show users the severe psychological problems they’ll inevitably face. Every feed should open with a graphic warning label featuring someone in deep distress, crushed by the realization that their actual life will never resemble the plastic reality of an influencer.
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