Blackburn, Klobuchar slam Mark Zuckerberg for banning law firm ads for victims of social media dependancy: upsetting | Latest Tech News
Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) blasted Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg on Friday over the tech giant’s “disturbing” transfer to take down ads from law companies that provided to symbolize victims of social media dependancy.
Meta began yanking ads off Facebook and Instagram in April after dropping blockbuster verdicts in Los Angeles and New Mexico that discovered the company failed to defend children. One of the ads proclaimed that Meta knew its apps have been inflicting anxiety, depression and self-harm but “kept targeting kids anyway.”
Meta’s advert ban is “nothing more than an attempt to preserve a harmful business model at all costs — one that actively profits off the addiction of this nation’s youth,” the senators wrote in a letter to Zuckerberg, a copy of which was solely obtained by The Post.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn is a major advocate of the Kids Online Safety Act. REUTERS
“In fact, Meta’s actions expressly conflict with its recent policy changes to ‘allow more speech’ and to stop removing or demoting content, except in the most extreme circumstances,” the senators added.
Meta and other social corporations are going through unprecedented heat over their failure to defend minors online. The company is a defendant, alongside YouTube guardian Google, TikTok and Snap, in more than 2,400 lawsuits in California federal court introduced by faculty districts, state attorneys basic and people.
In their letter, Blackburn and Klobuchar pointed to Meta’s own inner paperwork, which confirmed that the company estimated in 2024 that 10% of its total income — or $16 billion — was derived from rip-off ads that ran on its apps.
Sens. Amy Klobuchar (pictured) and Marsha Blackburn called Meta’s resolution “disturbing.” REUTERS
“That Meta makes billions of dollars from fraudulent ads makes clear that Meta is removing these ads only to protect its bottom line,” the senators wrote.
Axios, which first reported on the law firm advert removals on April 9, recognized more than a dozen ads that had been scrubbed from Meta’s apps, including solicitations from major law companies like Morgan & Morgan and Sokolove Law.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the company would “not allow trial lawyers to profit from our platforms while simultaneously claiming they are harmful.”
“We’re actively defending ourselves against these lawsuits and are removing ads that attempt to recruit plaintiffs for them,” Stone added.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg leaves after testifying in a landmark trial over whether or not social media platforms intentionally addict and hurt kids. AP
Stone said Meta has made vital efforts to improve the security of its apps in latest years, including a rollout of “Teen Accounts” on Instagram.
On March 24, a New Mexico state jury slapped Meta with a $375 million penalty for failing to defend children from inappropriate predators. Meta has since threatened to go away the state totally if a choose orders what it called “impractical” security updates to its apps.
Elsewhere, a Los Angeles state jury discovered Meta and YouTube proprietor Google liable for $6 million in damages to a girl called KGM, who alleged that the apps fueled her descent into anxiety and depression.
Blackburn and Klobuchar both endorse the Kids Online Safety Act — a long-stalled piece of laws that would impose a legal “duty of care” on social media corporations, among other requirements meant to defend customers.
Meta has not too long ago misplaced a pair of blockbuster social media hurt lawsuits. REUTERS
“While we are glad that courts are beginning to hold Meta accountable for its conduct, the systemic change that parents demand and our children deserve must come from Congress and we will not stop until Congress takes decisive action to protect our children from harms that continue to occur across the internet, including on Meta’s platform,” the lawmakers added.
Ricky LeBlanc, a managing attorney at Sokolove Law, said the company was undeterred by Meta’s advert removals.
“It’s both ironic and deeply concerning that Meta and other social media platforms are taking steps that may limit families’ awareness of their legal rights,” LeBlanc said in a assertion.
“Efforts to restrict access to legal information only make it harder for families to seek accountability through the civil justice system,” LeBlanc added. “We represent thousands of affected clients and will continue to advocate aggressively on their behalf.”
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