Reuters reported on a possible change in Meta policy under pressure from the US court

Facebook Instagrammingand WhatsApp (all owned by Meta) could lead to major changes in the operation of Meta platforms (the company's activities are recognized as extremist and banned in Russia), including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. This was reported by the Reuters news agency on May 2.

"The case, which will be heard by a judge in Santa Fe, arose from a lawsuit filed by New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torres, who accuses the social media giant of developing its products that are addictive to young users and of failing to protect children from sexual exploitation on its platforms," the material says.

The authors of the material emphasize that in March, a New Mexico state court had already found Meta guilty of misleading users about the security of the services and ordered it to pay $375 million. Now the court will have to decide whether the company's actions fall under the category of "public harm", which will allow for additional restrictions. The authorities require, in particular, checking the age of users, changing algorithms and disabling endless scrolling for minors.

Meta claims that some of the requirements are "technologically impossible" and violate freedom of expression. According to the company, the state may require up to $3.7 billion in compensation under the adolescent mental health program.

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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on April 13 that social networks such as Instagram and TikTok should take action against endless scrolling algorithms that force users to spend hours in online space. The British Prime Minister also stressed that social networks deliberately introduced algorithms that encourage addictive behavior, and therefore parents asked the UK government to intervene and influence the operation of online platforms.

On April 8, Reuters reported that Greece plans to announce a new bill that would ban the use of social media by children under the age of 15. It was emphasized that if Athens announces new restrictive measures in the online space, the country will join the list of other states in which similar bills have either already been adopted or are actively being developed.