Law360: Meta Platforms is on the hook for an additional USD567 million after a New Mexico judge on 6 August 2026 determined that the Facebook and Instagram parent must take measures to protect its youngest users, following a jury's USD375 million civil-penalty verdict after finding 75,000 violations of New Mexico's Unfair Practices Act arising from Meta's representations and omissions about risks associated with its platforms.

Law360: Meta Platforms is on the hook for an additional USD567 million after a New Mexico judge on 6 August 2026 determined that the Facebook and Instagram parent must take measures to protect its youngest users, following a jury's USD375 million verdict that Meta hid the full scope of mental health harms its apps caused.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has announced that, following its request, Meta has paused plans to use Facebook and Instagram user data to train generative artificial intelligence (AI) models. The ICO's request was made to ensure that the information and privacy rights of users are safeguarded. This decision by Meta is concurrent with the same decision it made in relation to EU-based users following a request issued by the Irish Data Protection Authority.

MLex: Meta Platforms has until the start of September to respond to questions from European consumer protection authorities about its consent-or-pay model, under which it gives Facebook and Instagram users a choice between paying a subscription fee or accepting data processing for targeted ads. The European Commission said today that it is coordinating the action, which is led by France's competition and consumer authority and which is separate from various probes into the model under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA).

MLex: Meta’s new privacy policy will be scrutinised by EU data protection authorities, after Max Schrems and his campaign group filed complaints in 11 European countries. The complaints focus on the use of ‘legitimate interest’ as the legal basis for deploying users’ personal data to train unspecified ‘AI technology.’ With the new privacy policy entering into force in just three weeks' time, the regulators might have to follow an urgent procedure.

MLex: Meta Platforms has settled a UK lawsuit and agreed to stop using personal data from Tanya O’Carroll, a campaigner who had argued the company's use of targeted ads did not follow the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation, Assimilated Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (UK GDPR). The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) backed up O’Carroll’s argument with an opinion published on 22 March 2025 and shared with the court responsible for her lawsuit. Following the settlement, Meta said it is now considering a paid ad-free version of its services, which include Instagram and Facebook, for UK users.

MLex: Even as Meta Platforms reported a record US$51bn in quarterly revenue 28 October 2025, the social media giant warned that a thicket of US trials it faces in 2026 over the harm to young users caused by the alleged addictive design of Facebook and Instagram ‘may ultimately result in a material loss’. It also said the threat of the European Commission ordering changes to Meta’s ‘pay or consent’ targeted-advertising model could have ‘a significant negative impact on our European revenue’ before the end of 2025. On artificial intelligence, Meta doubled its capital expenditures during the first nine months of 2025 over the previous year as it races to build computing power in preparation for the achievement of artificial general intelligence (AGI).

MLex: Meta Platforms’ Irish court challenge against enforcement over EU-US data transfers will feature an intervention by high-profile activist Max Schrems, the complainant behind the case. The Austrian privacy campaigner was granted permission to join the Irish High Court case this week because he is ‘uniquely and directly affected’ by the litigation. Meta was fined €1.2bn in May 2023 and ordered to bring its transfer into General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance.

MLex: AI-generated Instagram accounts posing as health experts are wrongfully verified with blue check marks, according to a Spanish advocacy group. Fundación Maldita accuses both Meta and Amazon of breaching European transparency rules by verifying the accounts, which sell products through Amazon-affiliated links.

Law360, London: Meta Platforms Inc. and Google cannot overturn a landmark verdict finding them liable for harming the mental health of a young woman who says she became addicted to their social media platforms as a child, a Los Angeles judge has ruled.

Defined in Civil Procedure Rules 1998, SI 1998/3132, pt 31, PD 31B, para 5(7) as 'data about data'. In the case of an electronic document, metadata is typically embedded information about the document which is not readily accessible once the native electronic document has been converted into an electronic image or paper document.

Fuels using natural uranium metal, as used in early gas-cooled reactors like Magnox.