Latest news with #Meta
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Tech industry group sues Arkansas over new social media laws
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A tech industry trade group sued Arkansas Friday over two new laws that would place limits on content on social media platforms and would allow parents of children who killed themselves to sue over content on the platforms. The lawsuit by NetChoice filed in federal court in Fayetteville, Arkansas, comes months after a federal judge struck down a state law requiring parental consent before minors can create new social media accounts. The new laws were signed by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders earlier this year. 'Despite the overwhelming consensus that laws like the Social Media Safety Act are unconstitutional, Arkansas elected to respond to this Court's decision not by repealing the provisions that it held unconstitutional but by instead doubling down on its overreach,' NetChoice said in its lawsuit. Arkansas is among several states that have been enacting restrictions on social media, prompted by concerns about the impact on children's mental health. NetChoice — whose members include TikTok, Facebook parent Meta, and the social platform X — challenged Arkansas' 2023 age-verification law for social media. A federal judge who initially blocked the law struck it down in March. Similar laws have been blocked by judges in Florida and Georgia. A spokesperson for Attorney General Tim Griffin said his office was reviewing the latest complaint and looked forward to defending the law. One of the new laws being challenged prohibits social media platforms from using a design, algorithm or feature it 'knows or should have known through the exercise of reasonable care' would cause a user to kill themself, purchase a controlled substance, develop an eating disorder, develop an addiction to the platform. The lawsuit said that provision is unconstitutionally vague and doesn't offer guidance on how to determine which content would violate those restrictions, and the suit notes it would restrict content for both adults and minors. The suit questions whether songs that mention drugs, such as Afroman's 'Because I Got High,' would be prohibited under the new law. The law being challenged also would allow parents whose children have died by suicide or attempted to take their lives to sue social media companies if they were exposed to content promoting or advancing self-harm and suicide. The companies could face civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation. NetChoice is also challenging another law that attempts to expand Arkansas' blocked restrictions on social media companies. That measure would require social media platforms to ensure minors don't receive notifications between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. The measure also would require social media companies to ensure their platform 'does not engage in practices to evoke any addiction or compulsive behavior.' The suit argues that the law doesn't explain how to comply with that restriction and is so broadly written that it's unclear what kind of posts or material would violate it. 'What is 'addictive' to some minors may not be addictive to others. Does allowing teens to share photos with each other evoke addiction?' the lawsuit said. Andrew Demillo, The Associated Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Associated Press
43 minutes ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Tech industry group sues Arkansas over new social media laws
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A tech industry trade group sued Arkansas Friday over two new laws that would place limits on content on social media platforms and would allow parents of children who killed themselves to sue over content on the platforms. The lawsuit by NetChoice filed in federal court in Fayetteville, Arkansas, comes months after a federal judge struck down a state law requiring parental consent before minors can create new social media accounts. The new laws were signed by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders earlier this year. 'Despite the overwhelming consensus that laws like the Social Media Safety Act are unconstitutional, Arkansas elected to respond to this Court's decision not by repealing the provisions that it held unconstitutional but by instead doubling down on its overreach,' NetChoice said in its lawsuit. Arkansas is among several states that have been enacting restrictions on social media, prompted by concerns about the impact on children's mental health. NetChoice — whose members include TikTok, Facebook parent Meta, and the social platform X — challenged Arkansas' 2023 age-verification law for social media. A federal judge who initially blocked the law struck it down in March. Similar laws have been blocked by judges in Florida and Georgia. A spokesperson for Attorney General Tim Griffin said his office was reviewing the latest complaint and looked forward to defending the law. One of the new laws being challenged prohibits social media platforms from using a design, algorithm or feature it 'knows or should have known through the exercise of reasonable care' would cause a user to kill themself, purchase a controlled substance, develop an eating disorder, develop an addiction to the platform. The lawsuit said that provision is unconstitutionally vague and doesn't offer guidance on how to determine which content would violate those restrictions, and the suit notes it would restrict content for both adults and minors. The suit questions whether songs that mention drugs, such as Afroman's 'Because I Got High,' would be prohibited under the new law. The law being challenged also would allow parents whose children have died by suicide or attempted to take their lives to sue social media companies if they were exposed to content promoting or advancing self-harm and suicide. The companies could face civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation. NetChoice is also challenging another law that attempts to expand Arkansas' blocked restrictions on social media companies. That measure would require social media platforms to ensure minors don't receive notifications between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. The measure also would require social media companies to ensure their platform 'does not engage in practices to evoke any addiction or compulsive behavior.' The suit argues that the law doesn't explain how to comply with that restriction and is so broadly written that it's unclear what kind of posts or material would violate it. 'What is 'addictive' to some minors may not be addictive to others. Does allowing teens to share photos with each other evoke addiction?' the lawsuit said.
The Verge
an hour ago
- The Verge
Facebook is starting to feed its AI with private, unpublished photos
For years, Meta's trained its AI programs using the billions of public images uploaded by users onto Facebook and Instagram's servers. But apparently, Meta has decided to try training its AI on the billions of images that users haven't uploaded to those servers. On Friday, TechCrunch reported that Facebook users trying to post something on the Story feature have encountered pop-up messages asking if they'd like to opt into 'cloud processing', which would allow Facebook to 'select media from your camera roll and upload it to our cloud on a regular basis', to generate 'ideas like collages, recaps, AI restyling or themes like birthdays or graduations.' By allowing this feature, the message continues, users are agreeing to Meta AI terms, which allows their AI to analyze 'media and facial features' of those unpublished photos, as well as the date said photos were taken, and the presence of other people or objects in them. You further grant Meta the right to 'retain and use' that personal information. Meta recently acknowledged that it's scraped the data from all the content that's been published on Facebook and Instagram since 2007 to train its generative AI models. Though the company stated that it's only used public posts uploaded from adult users over the age of 18, it has long been vague about exactly what 'public' entails, as well as what counted as an 'adult user' in 2007. Unlike Google, which explicitly states that it does not train generative AI models with personal data gleaned from Google Photos, Meta's current AI usage terms, which have been in place since June 23, 2024, do not provide any clarity as to whether unpublished photos accessed through 'cloud processing' are exempt from being used as training data. Meta did not return TechCrunch's request for comment; The Verge has reached out for comment as well. Thankfully, Facebook users do have an option to turn off camera roll cloud processing in their settings, which, once activated, will also start removing unpublished photos from the cloud after 30 days. But the workaround, disguised as a feature, suggest a new incursion into our private data, one that bypasses the point of friction known as conscientiously deciding to post a photo for public consumption. And according to Reddit posts found by TechCrunch, Meta's already offering AI restyling suggestions on previously-uploaded photos, even if users hadn't been aware of the feature: one user reported that Facebook had Studio Ghiblified her wedding photos without her knowledge.
Business Times
an hour ago
- Business
- Business Times
Meta seeks US$29 billion from private capital firms for AI data centres, FT reports
[BENGALURU] Meta Platforms is seeking to raise US$29 billion from private capital firms to build artificial intelligence (AI) data centres in the US, the Financial Times reported on Friday (Jun 27). The Facebook-parent advanced discussions with private credit investors including Apollo Global Management, KKR, Brookfield, Carlyle and Pimco, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. Meta is looking to raise US$3 billion in equity and US$26 billion in debt, the report said, adding that the company is debating how to structure the debt raising and may also seek to raise more capital. Such a fundraising comes at a time when Meta has doubled down its commitment to AI, including a US$14.8 billion investment in startup Scale AI. Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in January the company would spend as much as US$65 billion this year to expand its AI infrastructure, seeking to strengthen its position against competitors OpenAI and Google in the race to lead the AI technology landscape. Meta and Carlyle declined to comment, while Apollo Global, KKR, Brookfield and Pimco did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Meta was working with its advisers at Morgan Stanley to arrange the financing, and it was considering ways that could make the debt more easily tradeable once it was issued, the FT report said. Major tech companies are investing heavily to secure the vast computing power needed to run AI models, fuelling demand for specialised data centres that link thousands of chips into high-performance clusters. Microsoft has planned a capital expenditure of US$80 billion in fiscal 2025, with most of it aimed at expanding data centres to ease capacity bottlenecks for AI services. Bloomberg News reported in February that Apollo Global Management is in talks to lead a roughly US$35 billion financing package for Meta to help develop data centres in the US. REUTERS
The Star
an hour ago
- Business
- The Star
Meta seeks $29 billion from private capital firms for AI data centers, FT reports
FILE PHOTO: A Meta logo is pictured at a trade fair in Hannover Messe, in Hanover, Germany, April 22, 2024. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo (Reuters) -Meta Platforms is seeking to raise $29 billion from private capital firms to build artificial intelligence data centers in the U.S., the Financial Times reported on Friday. The Facebook-parent has advanced discussions with private credit investors including Apollo Global Management, KKR, Brookfield, Carlyle and Pimco, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. Meta is looking to raise $3 billion in equity and $26 billion in debt, the report said, adding that the company is debating how to structure the fundraising and may also seek to raise more capital. Such a fundraising comes at a time when Meta has doubled down its commitment to artificial intelligence, including a $14.8 billion investment in startup Scale AI. Meta, Apollo Global, KKR, Brookfield, Carlyle and Pimco did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Meta was working with its advisers at Morgan Stanley to arrange the financing, and it was considering ways that could make the debt more easily tradeable once it was issued, the FT report said. (Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
