Meta Broke This Texas Law. Now It Must Pay Billions to Settle Lawsuit
By Movieguide® Contributor
Meta has agreed to pay Texas $1.4 billion to settle a lawsuit over Facebook’s unauthorized collection of biometric data which broke the state’s privacy laws.
“Unbeknownst to most Texans, for more than a decade Meta ran facial recognition software on virtually every face contained in the photographs uploaded to Facebook, capturing records of the facial geometry of the people depicted,” said the office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
After two years of talks to settle the complaint, Meta has agreed to pay $1.4 billion for violating a 2009 Texas biometric privacy law. Per the law, each violation can cost a company up to $25,000; Paxton claimed Meta violated it billions of times.
These violations took place through Facebook’s “Tag Suggestions” feature which automatically gave users suggestions of who to tag while they were creating a post. Meta discontinued the feature in 2021 over larger concerns for facial recognition technology.
“This historic settlement demonstrates our commitment to standing up to the world’s biggest technology companies and holding them accountable for breaking the law and violating Texans’ privacy rights,” Paxton said after the lawsuit was settled. “Any abuse of Texans’ sensitive data will be met with the full force of the law.”
While Meta denies any wrongdoing, it is happy to move forward from this case.
“We are pleased to resolve this matter, and look forward to exploring future opportunities to deepen our business investments in Texas, including potentially developing data centers,” a Meta spokesperson said after the case was settled.
The company received a similar penalty in 2020 when paid out $650 million for breaking Illinois biometric privacy laws.
Texas pursues a related lawsuit against Google’s parent company Alphabet for allegedly illegally collecting the biometric data of millions of Texans.
These lawsuits prove that the tide for big tech is turning and lawmakers are no longer content turning a blind eye to the violations of privacy that often sit at the core of their business.
Movieguide® previously reported:
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy recommended a surgeon general’s warning be applied to social media platforms as a constant reminder to users that the platforms have a profound negative effect on their health.
“The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency — and social media has emerged as an important contributor,” Murthy wrote in a recent New York Times piece. “Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms, and the average daily use in this age group, as of the summer of 2023, was 4.8 hours. Additionally, nearly half of all adolescents say social media makes them feel worse about their bodies.”
“It is time to require a surgeon general’s warning label on social media platforms, stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents. A surgeon general’s warning label, which requires congressional action, would regularly remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proven safe,” he continued.
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