Meta’s $18bn settlement shows the wrong way to keep kids safe

Relying on mutual compromise is a flawed way to protect young users

What could Meta’s US settlement mean around the world – and what now for other claims against firm?

Other governments could seek similar concessions, while separate legal action is pending in places ranging from Kenya to the Netherlands In October 2021, Abrham Meareg’s father, a professor of chemistry in Ethiopia’s northern town of Bahir Dar, was shot at close range and died outside his family home. This was in the middle of the country’s civil war. For weeks, Facebook’s algorithm had actively promoted posts calling for the academic to be murdered, according to Meareg and Foxglove, a nonpro...

By Aisha Down