US acts to protect kids and halt Meta exploitation

Plus, Spotify goes to war with Apple, a Facebook board member is revealed as an FBI informant, Microsoft splurges $5 billion in Australia, and more

Welcome to Scotch and Watch. There’s lots happening so grab a drink and dive in.

It’s reporting season, so we are getting a glimpse of the winners and losers in the fast-emerging AI race.

Google and Microsoft reported overnight with very different outcomes. Meta and Amazon come over the next few days.

And talking of Meta…

1. The world’s children are not happy, and now 41 US states and Washington have unleashed a barrage of lawsuits to drag Mark Zuckerberg to court to answer for it.

Together they allege that Meta actively harms children, especially teen girls, by intentionally making them addicted to Instagram and Facebook.

A 233-page indictment alleges:

• Meta engaged in a “scheme to exploit young users for profit”.

• Misled the world about safety features and harmful content.

• Harvested children’s data.

• Violated US federal laws on children’s privacy, and

• Knowingly deployed changes to keep children on the site to the detriment of their well-being, violating consumer protection laws.

Within the lawsuit …