Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Mitch McCann: US correspondent on Meta agreeing to pay 18 billion US dollars in a settlement deal

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Mitch McCann: US correspondent on Meta agreeing to pay 18 billion US dollars in a settlement deal · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Right, that big case, Meta, teenage users, harm being done
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: in the US. There has been a settlement. Mitch McCann
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: is our US correspondent. Hey, Mitch, what have they settled?
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, good morning, Ryan. Look, this is rather extraordinary because
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: this trial was already underway in Oakland, California. It involved Meta,
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: of course, which is the parent company of Instagram and Facebook,
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: and attorneys general from about 29 states across the U.S.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: that had sued Meta. They claimed the business model was
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: to hook users, keep them engaged as long as possible,
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: harvest their data, and then hide the truth from the
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: public when making public statements. This was the most high-profile
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: social media addiction trial targeting Meta. And partway through this trial,
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: they've decided to come to a settlement. So Meta has
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: agreed to pay up to $ 16. 68 billion, and it will
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: also make significant changes to its apps. Now, it's going
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: to strengthen age-assurance systems. It's going to make it harder
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: for children to access inappropriate content. And it's introducing daily
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: usage limits and nighttime blocks for teenagers. It's unclear if
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: this is going to be rolled out internationally and whether
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: or not it would affect New Zealand teenagers, for example.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: But interestingly, as part of the settlement, Ryan, there is
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: no admission of any wrongdoing by Meta, but it is
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: going to cost them a whole lot of money.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah. The other thing I noticed here, Mitch, is that
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: they will only pay 70% of that settlement unless their competitors, i.e.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: TikTok and YouTube, also agree to set daily limits for kids.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, this is quite incredible. I'm just looking at that now.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: So that 30% that they would still have to pay
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: is $ 5. 3 billion. They say they're only going to do
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: it if YouTube and TikTok implement a one-hour daily limit,
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: night mode and age assurance measures. It's unclear if YouTube
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: and TikTok knew about this before this was decided, but
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: they're wanting an industry-wide adoption, they're calling it.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: Basically hustling. Also, their limit is two hours and they
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: want TikToks and YouTubes to be one hour. So, I mean,
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: they're almost muscling in. Hey, some pretty impressive tributes, as
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: you would imagine, for Dolly Parton over in the US.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, of course. I mean, overnight, the Empire State Building
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: here in New York was lit up pink in tribute
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: of Dolly Parton. But we've also seen a number of
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: people from all corners of American life pay tribute. Donald
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: Trump has had a lot to say, actually, about Dolly Parton.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: He's ordered American flags be lowered. And he said in
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: an interview this morning, and to lose her, it's like
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: you lose a member of the family. Taylor Swift, who
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: some would say that her path to success was paved
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: in some way by Dolly Parton being a country music star.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: She said, our world without Dolly doesn't feel possible, real
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: or right. And we have more details this morning, Ryan,
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: on Dolly Parton's funeral plans. It's reported there's going to
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: be a small private service for immediate family in Nashville
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: in the coming days. And she would like an old
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: country gospel song sung at the funeral. It's called If
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: We Never Meet Again. So some details coming out about
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: the funeral arrangements.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Mitch McCann, good to see you. Good to hear you.
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: to Newstalk ZB from 5 a.m. weekdays or follow the
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: podcast on iHeartRadio.