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By Dorothy Atkins (July 14, 2022, 10:07 PM EDT) -- A California federal judge said Thursday he'll preliminarily approve Meta's non-monetary settlement to end a proposed class action accusing Facebook of surreptitiously scraping Android users' call and text logs to sell to advertisers, but he criticized it as being "pretty empty" and repeatedly questioned its value, asking "Where's the meat?"During a hearing held via Zoom, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg asked whether the proposed settlement, which awards only injunctive relief, provides no class notice and allows class counsel to collect up to $1.08 million in fees and expenses, has any real value for class members — particularly since Facebook has... Stay ahead of the curve In the legal profession, information is the key to success. You have to know what’s happening with clients, competitors, practice areas, and industries. Law360 provides the intelligence you need to remain an expert and beat the competition. Access to case data within articles (numbers, filings, courts, nature of suit, and more.) Access to attached documents such as briefs,  » Read More

Meta Platforms Inc said on Thursday its flagship social network Facebook is introducing ways for users to maintain up to five profiles, a major shift from the "real name" requirement the company has maintained since its inception. The product change would "help people tailor their experience based on interests and relationships," like posting different types of content aimed at family versus friends, Meta said in a statement. The company will continue to require that each user have only one Facebook account, with a main profile that continues to use the person's real name. People will be able to access any additional profiles they create after logging in to that account. The change grants users formal leeway to semi-anonymize their identity on the world's biggest social network, in keeping with options offered by competitors like TikTok and Twitter, as well as Meta's own photo and video app Instagram. In its statement, Meta said its rules against impersonation and other types of misleading representations of identity would continue to apply to all profiles.  » Read More

Last Updated: July 14, 2022 at 7:22 a.m. ET First Published: July 13, 2022 at 8:51 p.m. ET Meta switching vendors for service workers at main campus, replacing company that reduced holiday pay for janitors during pandemic and blamed Facebook Meta is switching vendors in a move that affects service workers at its Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters. Noah Berger/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Meta Platforms Inc. has terminated its contract with a longtime vendor that provides hundreds of service workers at its Silicon Valley headquarters, a year after MarketWatch reported about that vendor’s handling of janitors’ holiday pay. The change appeared to be a layoff by ABM Industries Inc. ABM in a state filing, but the union representing the janitors told MarketWatch on Wednesday that all the workers it represents are expected to keep their jobs. They will be directly employed by a different contractor, SBM Management...  » Read More

Facebook’s parent company Meta has been accused of “whitewashing” a long-awaited report on its human rights impact in India, which the company released in a highly summarized form on Thursday, drawing fire from civil society groups. TIME first reported in August 2020 that Facebook had commissioned the human rights impact assessment (HRIA), in an effort to determine its role in the spread of hate speech online. The report has been anticipated for nearly two years by rights groups who have long raised the alarm that Facebook is contributing to an erosion of civil liberties in India and to dangers faced by minorities. Ankhi Das, Facebook’s most senior executive in India, resigned in October 2020 after the Wall Street Journal reported she had intervened to prevent the platform removing accounts of members of the country’s Hindu nationalist ruling party, some of whom had called for violence against India’s Muslim minority. India is Facebook’s largest market by users. Read More: Facebook’s Ties to India’s Ruling Party Complicate Its Fight Against Hate Speech The India HRIA was carried out by an independent law firm,  » Read More

Marne Levine and her deputy Nicola Mendelsohn, have a tough job ahead of them. As Meta's new advertising leaders, they have to jumpstart growth at the platform as it continues to weather Apple's privacy changes and competition from newer platforms like TikTok. And analysts expect Meta to record zero growth in the second quarter, in a first for the company. Levine was named chief business officer last year, a new role at the Facebook parent. Mendelsohn, VP of Global Business Group, leads its ad sales.A key part of the job is to rebuild advertiser trust and confidence in a platform damaged by years of measurement problems and scandals, but a year into Levine's tenure, several ad execs say it's getting off to a slow start. The pair face tough comparisons with former ads boss Carolyn Everson and Meta's outgoing COO Sheryl Sandberg, who helped build the company into an ads juggernaut by developing close relationships with advertisers and holding their hands through a slew of controversies.  » Read More

BOSTON — The Federal Trade Commission is warning of a verification scam targeting people who sell items on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. The FTC calls it the Google Voice scam and say it can lead to someone using your phone number to conceal their identity and rip off other people.Here’s how it works: The scammer sends you a message letting you know they’re interested in buying your item. They may message you a phone number and ask you to text them. Then they’ll say they’re hesitant to proceed because they’ve heard about fake online listings. They want to verify you’re a real person and in order to confirm your post is legitimate, they’ll send you a six-digit Google Voice verification code.“If your post is real, send me the code, then I’ll call,” one scammer texted.By sending back that code, the FTC says what you’re really doing is helping the scammer set up a Google Voice number linked to your phone number.“So, what’s the harm?  » Read More

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A couple spotted the suspected Highland Park parade shooter's car while he was on the run with the help of ABC7's Facebook page.A Waukegan man, who did not want to be identified, was driving with his father-in-law and fiancée that Monday, returning from a hiking trip in Wisconsin, when they spotted Robert "Bobby" Crimo III's vehicle on the southbound U.S. 41 near Wadsworth.He said his fiancée had been on the ABC7 Facebook page and learned Crimo was driving a Honda Fit. He looked in his rearview mirror and saw a Honda Fit, so he changed lanes, slowed down, and asked his father-in-law to casually look at the driver as he passed. The driver matched the suspect's description.SEE ALSO | 'Screaming out for help': Highland Park shooting suspect's social media littered with hatredThe man's fiancée went back to the ABC7 Facebook page and confirmed the license plate number.He then called 911, and police kept him on the line for 13 minutes as he relayed location information to multiple operators.  » Read More

Act up, fight back — Senators asked for receipts on how many posts were wrongly deleted. Ashley Belanger - Jul 12, 2022 4:40 pm UTC When Facebook and Instagram began removing posts about abortion that didn't violate any community standards, at least two US lawmakers decided that Meta's apparent practice of censoring pro-choice advocates needed more scrutiny. Last week, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) sent a letter to Meta asking what the company plans to do to end abortion-post censorship on its platforms. They gave Meta until this Friday, July 15, to respond, placing urgency on their request and seeking evidence that the company is taking immediate action. Examples of censorship cited in the letter include instances where Facebook and Instagram removed "posts providing accurate information about how to legally access abortion services" within minutes and placed sensitivity screens over a post promoting an abortion documentary. The senators also took issue with censorship of health care workers, including a temporary account suspension of an "organization dedicated to informing people in the United States about their abortion rights." Because the senators are concerned that Meta seemingly took little action after "users reported similar issues last fall when Texas's law…

Cesar G Rodriguez, LAREDO MORNING TIMESJuly 11, 2022 Rigo Alberto Santana.Courtesy/Webb County Sheriff's Office A man who claimed to be affiliated with the Mexican Mafia landed behind bars for beating up his girlfriend because of some Facebook posts she had made, according to Laredo police. Rigo Alberto Santana, 25, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, assault of a family, household member, unlawful restraint and terroristic threat of a family, household member. On July 6, police officers responded to a location by Casa Del Sol Boulevard, where authorities met with a woman who was crying nonstop. She stated she had been in a dating relationship with Santana for about a month. She stated she was at Santana’s residence in the 6300 block of Creosote Loop when he began accusing her of infidelity because of some Facebook posts she had made, according to an arrest affidavit. “Santana then began to threaten (the woman) by telling her he is affiliated with the M (Mexican Mafia) and he had the ability to hurt her,” the affidavit states.  » Read More

By: Express News Service | New Delhi | Updated: July 11, 2022 8:33:59 pm Meta Platforms in 2020 had filed the suit against Noufel Malol, the owner of ‘Facebake’, for a permanent injunction to restrain him from using the mark ‘Facebake’, the website ‘www.facebake.in’ and related email ids. (Image: Reuters, representational)In an order on a suit filed by Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook, the Delhi High Court has permanently restrained the owner of a Bangalore-based cake shop from using the name ‘Facebake’ or ‘Facecake’ or any other Facebook trademarks for its products and services. Justice Navin Chawla also said the shop owner will deliver all finished and unfinished materials, including locks, signage, cards, stationary, accessories, packaging, labels and other material bearing the ‘Facebake’ marks or any mark deceptively similar to Facebook, to Meta for the purpose of erasure or destruction. The court also awarded nominal damages of Rs 50,000 in favour of Meta and asked the shop owner to pay the cost of the suit to the social media giant.  » Read More