Meta on Friday, Jan. 23, informed that it is halting teens’ access to its artificial intelligence (AI) characters worldwide across all its apps. 

In a blog post, the owner of WhatsApp and Instagram said that this will start in the “coming weeks” and teenagers will no longer be allowed to access its AI characters “until the updated experience is ready”

“Starting in the coming weeks, teens will no longer be able to access AI characters across our apps until the updated experience is ready. This will apply to anyone who has given us a teen birthday, as well as people who claim to be adults but who we suspect are teens based on our age prediction technology,” read the post from Meta.

The new version of AI characters for teens will have built-in parental controls once it is made available. It stated that the new characters will provide age-appropriate responses, sticking to topics like education, sport, and hobbies.

As per The Associated Press, teens will continue to have access to Meta’s AI assistant, but not the characters. This comes the week before Meta, along with Google’s YouTube and TikTok, is expected to stand trial in Los Angeles over the apps’ possible harm to children. A case against Meta is also scheduled to go to trial in New Mexico, wherein the company has been accused of not making an effort to protect children from sexual exploitation on its apps, according to TechCrunch.

In October last year, Meta previewed parental controls that allowed parents and guardians to disable their teens’ private chats with AI characters. While these features were expected to release this year, the company has now decided to turn off AI characters altogether for teens as it updates them to a newer version.

Meta informed that it heard from parents, who sought more insights and control over their children’s interaction with AI characters. This is why the company decided to make these changes.

According to Reuters, Meta said that its AI experiences for teens will be guided by the PG-13 movie rating system, as the company wants to prevent minors from getting access to inappropriate content. US regulators are scrutinising AI companies for the potential negative impacts of chatbots.

In recent times, other companies have also banned teens from gaining access to AI chatbots over growing concerns about the effects of AI conversations on them. Character.AI announced its ban in October last year. The startup allows users to chat with various AI avatars. Also, OpenAI has added new teen safety rules for ChatGPT.

Also Read: Altman Raises Concerns Over Tesla Autopilot Deaths After Musk Warns Against Use Of ChatGPT

Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, recently shared a harrowing experience during an interview with Joe Rogan, revealing that he was once at risk of being sentenced to death in Pakistan due to content posted on Facebook. This startling admission came amid ongoing legal battles between Meta and the Pakistani government, which has accused the platform of allowing content that violates the country’s strict blasphemy laws.

Power of Pakistan

pic.twitter.com/V4qokhbq76

— Kreately.in (@KreatelyMedia) February 11, 2025

Zuckerberg’s comments shed light on the complex and often fraught relationship between global tech platforms and local governments. In this case, a specific incident involving a user-posted image, which had a drawing of Prophet Mohammed, sparked a lawsuit against Zuckerberg, with the Pakistani government seeking to hold him personally responsible for the alleged blasphemy. Although Zuckerberg expressed little concern for his own safety, acknowledging that he had no intention of visiting Pakistan, the experience highlighted the broader challenges faced by Meta and other global platforms as they navigate the intersection of free speech and local regulations.

As Zuckerberg explained, “There are places around the world that just have different values that go against our free expression values and want us to crack down and ban way more stuff than I think a lot of people would believe would be the right thing to do.” This sentiment reflects the tension between Meta’s commitment to free expression and the varying cultural norms and laws that govern online content around the world.

The issue is particularly pronounced in Pakistan, where blasphemy laws can result in severe penalties, including imprisonment or even death. The legal system in Pakistan has historically been used to target individuals and organisations accused of violating these laws. In this context, Zuckerberg’s comments underscore the need for a nuanced approach to content regulation, one that balances respect for local cultural norms with the principles of free expression.

Moreover, Zuckerberg’s remarks highlight the role of government influence in shaping the online landscape. He argued that foreign governments exerting pressure on American tech companies requires stronger support from the US government. As he noted, the “power of saying they’re going to throw you in prison” is a level of pressure that necessitates protection for tech companies.

Meta’s experience in Pakistan is not an isolated incident. Meta has had its own share of legal challenges regarding its content that some governments deem harmful, offensive, or illegal.
 

Washington:

Meta has agreed to pay President Donald Trump $25 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit he filed claiming he was wrongfully censored by Facebook and Instagram after the US Capitol riot, the company said Wednesday.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the settlement of the suit brought against Meta and its chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, in what was seen as a victory for Trump.

According to people familiar with the agreement, the Journal said, $22 million of the payment will go towards funding Trump’s future presidential library, with the remainder covering legal fees and payments to other plaintiffs in the case.

Meta in the settlement will not admit wrongdoing over the suspensions of Trump’s accounts.

A spokesperson for Meta confirmed the settlement to AFP.

Trump had widely criticized social media platforms for suspending his accounts after the January 6, 2021 insurrection by his supporters, and comments he made that were seen as praising people engaged in the violence.

But he has recently courted tech titans including Zuckerberg and X owner Elon Musk, both of whom attended Trump’s presidential inauguration last week in Washington.

Zuckerberg has expressed support for Trump, and he has tweaked Meta’s policies to lift restrictions on some content within the company’s apps, which include Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp.

Meta would be “restoring free expression on our platforms,” Zuckerberg, who reportedly dined with Trump at his Florida estate in November, said this month in announcing a rollback of fact-checking operations.

The settlement is the latest bow by media corporations as they gird for a second Trump presidency.

In December, ABC News agreed to pay a $15 million settlement payment to resolve a defamation lawsuit brought by Trump stemming from on-air comments about him made by a top anchor.

Earlier Wednesday Meta reported its net income soared by 59 percent to $62.36 billion for the full year.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

In a respite for Mark Zuckerberg-run Meta, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday stayed the five-year ban imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on WhatsApp for its data-sharing practices.

The NCLAT bench, led by Justice Ashok Bhushan, said such a ban could disrupt WhatsApp’s business model in the country. WhatsApp has more than 500 million monthly active users in India.

The appellate tribunal also directed Meta to deposit 50 per cent of the Rs 213 core penalty imposed by the CCI, within two weeks.

The social media giant has already paid 25 per cent of the fine.

Last week, the NCLAT had reserved its order on a plea by Meta and WhatsApp seeking a stay on the CCI order that imposed a penalty of Rs 213 crore for “abuse of dominant position”.

According to the tribunal, the upcoming data protection law in India could address concerns related to data privacy.

WhatsApp’s 2021 Privacy Policy allows for user data to be shared with group cos like Meta, and Insta without an “opt out” option.

Earlier this month, social media platform Meta moved the NCLAT against the CCI order. In November last year, the competition watchdog directed WhatsApp to not share user data collected on its platform with other Meta products or companies for advertising purposes for a period of five years, along with imposing a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore on Meta for allegedly abusing its dominant position.

Meta informed the NCLAT that the CCI order has wide ramifications for the industry as a whole and therefore, an urgent hearing in the matter will be required.

Last year, after the CCI directed WhatsApp not to share user data collected on its platform with other Meta products or companies for advertising purposes for a period of five years, the social media platform said it disagreed with the CCI’s decision and planned to appeal.

The CCI began a probe in March 2021 into WhatsApp’s revised privacy policy, which enabled mandatory data sharing with Facebook (now Meta) and its companies, along with an expanded scope of data collection.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

San Francisco:

Meta plans to dismiss approximately 3,600 employees identified as low performers and replace them with new hires, according to an internal memo reported by Bloomberg on Tuesday.

The company, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, confirmed to AFP that CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s decision will affect five percent of its workforce.

Meta had approximately 72,400 employees as of September.

“I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low-performers faster,” Zuckerberg said.

The CEO said the performance-based cuts are intended to ensure that the company has the “strongest talent” and is able to “bring new people in.”

Performance-based dismissals are a common practice among major US corporations. Microsoft announced similar cuts last week affecting less than one percent of its workforce, Business Insider reported.

The layoffs come amid broader changes at Meta, in advance of Donald Trump returning to the White House on January 20.

Zuckerberg has recently aligned more closely with conservative ideas and political figures, including having dinner meetings with Trump and nominating a Republican as Meta’s head of public affairs.

Last week, Zuckerberg announced the end of the company’s US fact-checking program that aimed to combat misinformation on its platforms. The program had faced criticism from conservative voices who viewed it as censorship.

Under the new system, users will be able to add context to posts, similar to features on X, formerly Twitter, and championed by Elon Musk, the platform’s owner.

The company has also scaled back its diversity initiatives and relaxed content moderation rules on Facebook and Instagram, particularly regarding certain forms of hostile speech.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Meta scrapped its fact-checking program in US. (File photo)

Washington:

US President Joe Biden on Friday condemned tech giant Meta’s “shameful” decision to end its third-party fact-checking program in the United States.

“I think it’s really shameful,” Biden told reporters at the White House when asked about the announcement. “Telling the truth matters.”

Biden added: “You think it doesn’t matter that they let be printed, or millions of people read, things that are simply not true? I mean, I want to know what that’s all about.

“It’s just completely contrary to everything America’s about. We want to tell the truth.”

Earlier, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had refused to comment on the decision.

Meta founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg triggered alarm on Tuesday when he announced his tech company was ditching fact-checking on its platforms in the United States.

The tech tycoon said fact-checkers were “too politically biased” and the program had led to “too much censorship.”

As an alternative, Zuckerberg said Meta’s platforms, Facebook and Instagram, would use “Community Notes,” similar to the Elon Musk-owned platform X.

Community Notes is a crowd-sourced moderation tool that X has promoted as the way for users to add context to posts, but researchers have repeatedly questioned its effectiveness in combatting falsehoods.

Meta’s decision comes after years of criticism from supporters of President-elect Donald Trump, among others, that conservative voices were being censored or stifled under the guise of fighting misinformation, a claim professional fact-checkers vehemently reject.

AFP currently works in 26 languages with Facebook’s fact-checking program, including in the United States and the European Union.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

The White House on Friday refused to comment on tech giant Meta’s shock announcement earlier this week that it was ending its third-party fact-checking program in the United States.

“When any corporation or company makes a decision… we just are not going to comment,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

“So I’m not going to comment on this,” she said, adding that about content moderation.

She said, however, that social media companies have an “important role to play in enforcing their own rules to prevent to spread of misinformation.”

Meta founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg triggered alarm on Tuesday when he announced his tech company was ditching fact-checking on its platforms in the United States.

The tech tycoon said that fact-checkers were “too politically biased” and the program had led to “too much censorship.”

As an alternative, Zuckerberg said Meta’s platforms, Facebook and Instagram, would use “Community Notes,” similar to the Elon Musk-owned platform X.

Community Notes is a crowd-sourced moderation tool that X has promoted as the way for users to add context to posts, but researchers have repeatedly questioned its effectiveness in combating falsehoods.

Meta’s decision comes after years of criticism from supporters of President-elect Donald Trump, among others, that conservative voices were being censored or stifled under the guise of fighting misinformation, a claim professional fact-checkers vehemently reject.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

Meta Platforms is ending its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, including those for hiring, training and picking suppliers, it said in a memo to employees posted on an internal company forum on Friday.

The move comes in the run-up to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, as the company attempts to mend relations with the leader who has criticized its political content policies and threatened its CEO with imprisonment.

“The legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing,” Janelle Gale, Vice President of Human Resources at Meta, said in the memo, which was seen by Reuters.

Gale cited recent Supreme Court decisions “signaling a shift” in how U.S. courts will approach DEI programs going forward.

“The term ‘DEI’ has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others,” she wrote.

Meta will continue to source job candidates from different backgrounds, but it will stop using a “Diverse Slate Approach”, said Gale.

The company will no longer have a dedicated team focused on DEI, she wrote. Chief Diversity Officer Maxine Williams will be taking on a new role at Meta, focused on accessibility and engagement, per the memo.

One employee comment on Gale’s memo called it “upsetting to read”.

The U.S. tech giant elected three new directors to its board on Monday, including Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and close friend of Trump.

Last week, Meta elevated prominent Republican Joel Kaplan to be its chief global affairs officer, replacing Nick Clegg.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Paris:

Internet giant Meta’s fact-checking programme aims to counter false information on its social platforms — Facebook, Instagram and Threads — with the help of media organisations, including AFP.

Here is a guide to how it works, following Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement on January 6 that he was halting the programme in the United States.

Who does fact-checking?

Meta has since 2016 tasked journalists with assessing false information on its platforms under its “third-party fact-checking” programme — which currently has 80 media organisations working on it.

In the United States, for example, Meta has 10 media partners for the programme, including AFP, USA Today and specialist fact-check sites Lead Stories and PolitiFact.

The partners are certified by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), set up in 2015 by the Poynter Institute, a US-based non-profit media training and advocacy group.

To be certified by the IFCN, media organisations must meet its standards of editorial quality, neutrality and independence.

Zuckerberg said he will replace the fact-checks with user-generated “community notes” similar to those used on rival platform X, formerly Twitter, owned by Elon Musk.

What do fact-checkers do?

AFP publishes fact-check articles in 26 languages, aimed at readers of posts published in those tongues.

The articles explain why claims are misleading and provide correct information for readers.

To start their articles, AFP’s 150 fact-checkers identify claims that are misleading, potentially dangerous and circulating widely on the platforms.

They verify facts, not opinions or beliefs.

They do so by assembling concrete evidence that is transparently sourced and cross-checked.

They explain the steps of their investigation and publish weblinks to their sources where possible.

The media organisation that produces a fact-check article publishes it on their own website.

In the case of AFP fact checks published in English, this site is factcheck.afp.com.

How does Meta use fact-checks?

To apply a fact-check to a claim circulating online, the media organisation enters the web address of its article into an interface provided by Meta.

This interface associates the article with the social media post containing the false or misleading information.

This causes the misleading post to become less widely viewed on the social platform and a rating such as “false” or “misleading” to appear alongside the post.

The post is not removed from the platform — instead, a link to the fact-checking article appears under the post, directing readers to the verified information.

Users who have shared the misleading post receive a notification providing them with a link to the fact-check article.

If the author of the post corrects it, the rating is removed and the restriction on how many users see the post is lifted.

When are fact-check articles paid for?

Meta pays the media organisations for publishing the articles that are linked to the misleading posts.

The media organisations may write articles on any subject they choose — even concerning misinformation that is not circulating on Meta’s platforms.

But Meta only pays them for the articles that are linked to specific posts on its platforms.

Meta does not apply ratings or attach fact-checks to posts by political figures.

This does not prevent the media organisations from publishing articles about such posts — as AFP regularly does. But they do not receive payment from Meta for those articles.

Fact-checkers are not to be confused with Meta’s content moderators.

Moderators remove posts that break a platform’s rules, for example ones that feature pornography or racist content, or incite terrorism or violence.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)