A class action lawsuit has been filed in an Australian court against Meta's Facebook and Instagram social media platforms, alleging they exposed children to harmful content and kept them addicted through algorithms.
The lawsuit was filed in the Federal Court -- Australia's second-highest -- by law firm MinterEllison this month. It could be the first in the country to blame social media for harming its users, particularly children and teenagers.
The class action suit has been filed on behalf of eight plaintiffs, who allege they were harmed by Meta while they were under the age of 18, and are seeking compensation.
Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a suppression order on Monday, the court prohibited the reporting of any information that could reveal the identity of the applicants and the statement of claims.
Meta in August agreed to pay $18 billion to settle with nearly all U.S. states to resolve claims it designed social media to addict children.
In addition, a judge in the U.S. state of New Mexico also ordered the tech giant to pay $25 billion after a jury found the company misled consumers, in a case linked to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Meta had argued that a penalty in the billions of dollars risked violating its constitutional rights, urging the judge to cap its penalty at $3.45 billion. It later said it planned to appeal the ruling.
This recent lawsuit comes amid rising tensions between Australia and Big Tech after a world-first ban on social media for children under 16, and newly proposed rules that could let users switch off algorithm-driven content on their feeds.
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Delegations from Russia, Ukraine and the United States met in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for their first formal talks in nine months. They did so with no agreement on what a ceasefire would be tied to or who gets to keep the land currently under Russian control.
At least 17 people have been reported killed in an explosion at a steel plant in western Türkiye, after a crane collapsed during maintenance work. The disaster has prompted a criminal investigation into what went wrong at the industrial facility.
Armenia could lose its voting rights within the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) on 11 November after failing to pay membership fees for more than two years, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
U.S. envoy Jared Kushner said Washington believes the Russian President is prepared to reach a peace agreement under the right conditions, as U.S., Russian and Ukrainian delegations began trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday 10 November.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 11 November. Today, we cover Russia-Ukraine peace talks, political tensions in Washington, strikes in Spain, espionage allegations involving Nvidia's CEO, and climate negotiations at COP31 in Türkiye.
Four million workers across Spain joined a general strike on Wednesday over the country’s deepening housing crisis, unions said, bringing disruption to factories, ports, shops and public transport just weeks before a snap general election.
Two days of U.S.-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi have ended with an agreement on a major prisoner exchange, but key disputes over security and territory remain unresolved.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivered a stark warning at this year's COP31 summit, saying the climate crisis iss advancing faster than governments' efforts to contain it.
Iran has unveiled a new underground missile and drone base, warning that it will respond forcefully to any attack, as tensions persist with the U.S. and oil tankers continue to be struck by naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
Hundreds of schools in Italy have been evacuated following emailed bomb threats, as similar messages spread to Scotland and Ireland. Police say the threats are not credible.
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