VTV.vn – From the Meta settlement to new regulations in the US and EU, Big Tech is under pressure to change its operating methods and business models.
Đài truyền hình Việt Nam•30/08/2026
Looking back at Meta’s trial.
The historic lawsuit in the tech world, in which dozens of US states sued Meta, has just concluded with a surprising outcome. Instead of continuing a protracted legal battle, Meta has agreed to settle the case for a sum that could reach nearly $18 billion. However, even more noteworthy than the monetary amount is the requirement for Meta to change the way it operates its core products like Facebook and Instagram, making them more suitable and safer for young users, especially teenagers.
Here are the main developments of the case.
On August 18th, at a federal court in Oakland, California, Meta entered one of the most notable trials in the company’s history.
The plaintiffs allege that Meta designed Facebook and Instagram in a way that coerced children and teenagers into using the platforms; failed to adequately inform them of the risks; and collected data from children under 13 without appropriate parental consent.
Meta denied the allegations and did not admit to wrongdoing. But the trial, which was expected to last weeks, concluded in just over a week. Meta reached settlements with nearly all of the US states and several territories. The total value of the settlements could reach approximately $18 billion, payable over 10 years.
Even more noteworthy than the amount of money are the changes Meta is implementing on Facebook and Instagram. For users under 18 in the US, the default usage limit is 2 hours per day. Exceeding this limit requires parental permission. Accounts for children are also automatically inaccessible between midnight and 6 AM.
J.B. McCouskey, Attorney General of West Virginia, USA, stated: “The most noteworthy thing is the mandatory measures. Tech companies are realizing that their products could be dangerous for children, that they need to do more, and that they have the tools to improve that.”
But the agreement also contains a special mechanism that prevents the story from ending at Meta. Approximately $12.7 billion is the portion of payments that is permanently allocated. The remaining $5.3 billion is conditional: TikTok and YouTube must implement similar measures.
In other words, Meta not only agreed to change itself. The agreement also created an incentive for its biggest competitors to follow the same set of standards. And this pressure is spreading beyond the United States. Just one day after the agreement, South Korean officials called on Meta to implement similar safeguards globally.
Female judge “goes head-on” with Silicon Valley
If you were to choose a figure to represent the legal battles targeting the American tech industry, perhaps no one would be more suitable than Judge Gonzalez Rogers – the presiding judge in the recent “blockbuster” trial between Meta and the states.
Not only in this lawsuit, Ms. Gonzalez Roger has also played a key role in a series of other lawsuits related to the technology industry, such as the case between Apple and Epic Games, or the high-profile lawsuit earlier this year between billionaire Elon Musk and startup OpenAI.
Countries are increasing control over the tech industry.
Beyond individual legal disputes, a widespread tightening of regulations is sweeping across the tech industry, with a series of large-scale penalties.
One of the most notable cases in the US in recent years was Alphabet’s agreement to pay $700 million in damages, along with loosening its control over the payment system on the Google Play app store. Besides financial sanctions, a series of regulations governing the technology industry have also been introduced by global authorities recently.
Australia spearheaded this trend with its landmark ban on users under 16, sparking a wave of countries from France and Spain to Norway to accelerate proposals to limit the age of social media use.
In the US, many states, such as Florida and Texas, have enacted strict laws requiring social media platforms to verify users’ age and completely disable addictive automated recommendation algorithms.
Meanwhile in the UK, the Online Safety Act empowers authorities to fine platforms up to 10% of their global revenue if they fail to proactively remove harmful content from the design and operation stages.
The EU and the legal framework for regulating the tech industry.
But when it comes to using legal tools to control the tech industry, perhaps no example is clearer than the European Union (EU). Including the approximately 890 million euro fine Brussels imposed on Alphabet last month, the total amount of fines imposed by the EU on tech companies over the past nearly three years has reached almost 8 billion euros. This is thanks to the continent’s most comprehensive legal framework for controlling technology platforms, considered one of the best in the world .
Since 2018, the EU has officially launched the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to comprehensively regulate user data.
In 2022, the bloc continued to pass two more important laws on regulating the technology market in the digital space, including the Digital Services Act (DSA), which tightens content censorship and algorithm transparency.
Along with DSA, the Digital Marketplace Act (DMA) marks a revolutionary step, for the first time in the world placing large technology corporations within a separate legal framework, known as the “gatekeepers” of the market.
DMA prevents these corporations from giving preferential treatment to their own services, forcing large digital ecosystems like Apple’s or Google’s to open up to third-party app stores and payment gateways.
Furthermore, the EU Artificial Intelligence Act, or AI Law, continues to anticipate the AI era, establishing a risk stratification system and requiring advanced AI generation models to adhere to standards of transparency and copyright.
Risks from Meta’s business model and other tech companies.
A tightening regulatory environment can be seen as a significant challenge to the global technology industry. Regarding Meta’s settlement agreement, Wall Street investors reacted quite positively, as this deal alleviates a major legal risk that had weighed on Meta’s stock in recent times.
Immediately after the agreement was announced, more than 31 million Meta shares were traded, more than three times the volume of the previous session. Meta’s stock closed up more than 1%, equivalent to an increase in market capitalization of approximately $15 billion.
The surge in trading volume suggests the market quickly reassessed Meta’s risk as the legal outcome became clearer. Many legal experts and analysts believe the deal also helped Meta avoid a potentially lengthy trial and the risk of further internal documents about how the company handled issues with young users being made public.
So, following this Meta incident, how are investors now viewing the risks to the business models of technology platforms and social networks?
The biggest risk lies in the very business model of social media platforms. With Meta, revenue and profit depend heavily on the ability to keep users engaged for longer periods, thereby collecting data and delivering ads more effectively.
This agreement, besides placing additional limits on minors’ use of Facebook and Instagram, essentially does not change the personalized content recommendations and advertising targeted at young people.
Therefore, legal risks or involvement in future lawsuits are entirely possible. Currently, the states of New Mexico and Florida remain outside the agreement. New Mexico has its own ruling, while Florida continues its legal proceedings. Therefore, the legal risks for Meta cannot yet be completely eliminated.
The European Commission recently reached a preliminary conclusion that features such as infinite scrolling, autoplay, and highly personalized content recommendation systems may violate regulations on addictive design.
The tech industry adapts to the new legal environment.
As regulatory frameworks become increasingly sophisticated, technology companies will also have to adapt by overhauling their business models.
Similar to Meta, this corporation has just launched a secure account system specifically for teenagers, as well as testing paid accounts without ads. Other corporations are also making similar adaptation moves.
Following rulings in both the US and the EU, Apple – a company known for its tight control over its ecosystem – has been forced to “open up” its iOS operating system, allowing third-party app stores and app developer payment gateways.
Similar to Apple, Google had previously relaxed its strict commission fee mechanism and allowed external payment systems on the Play Store.
Faced with pressure from antitrust investigations, Microsoft proactively separated Teams—its online meeting application—from its globally popular Office suite of office software.
It’s safe to say that at this point, the trend of stricter legal regulations has become a constant factor in the business operations of the tech industry, and Silicon Valley is still in the process of finding ways to adapt to these changes in the future.
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