Facebook found liable as TikTok settles for $100m over user safety

By Al Jazeera Staff, AP and Reuters. Published On 26 Sep 202626 Sep 2026.

Key points

• The now-defunct firm, Cambridge Analytica, applied the data to assist US President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign bid and intended to work with a pro-Brexit group.
• Facebook was discovered to have violated 43 million state consumer protection laws by a jury in New Mexico on Friday.
• The verdict follows an August settlement in which Meta agreed to pay $18bn over a lawsuit involving child safety problems.
• Jurors in New Mexico discovered the California-based social media business had deceived the public regarding investigations into third parties that harvest user data after the scandal.
• Jurors additionally identified Facebook published deceptive statements regarding protecting the data of New Mexico's entire population of more than two million.

Two technology giants have faced legal setbacks involving cases over misleading consumers regarding user safety and privacy in the United States, with Facebook identified liable by a jury and TikTok agreeing to pay a $100m settlement.

Facebook was discovered to have violated 43 million state consumer protection laws by a jury in New Mexico on Friday. Meanwhile, on the same day, TikTok and ⁠⁠its ⁠⁠Chinese parent firm, ByteDance, agreed to its first-ever settlement with a state just days before its scheduled trial in Alabama.

TikTok was accused by the Alabama attorney general's office of intentionally designing the platform to be addictive and misleading consumers regarding its safety. The settlement comes as the social media firm battles similar claims nationwide. Facebook, Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Facebook's trial centred on claims that the firm, owned by Meta, misled users concerning a data breach, harvesting data from regarding 87 million profiles through a third-party personality quiz and selling it to a political consulting firm to create targeted.

In practice, the now-defunct firm, Cambridge Analytica, applied the data to assist US President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign bid and intended to work with a pro-Brexit group.

"The verdict marks a significant victory for New Mexico consumers and holds one of the world's largest technology companies accountable for its conduct, " the state's Department of Justice remarked in an official note on Friday.

"We disagree with the verdict and will continue to defend ourselves against efforts to distort our record, " remarked Alex Burgos, a spokesperson for Meta, in an email to The Associated Press news agency.

For context, the verdict follows an August settlement in which Meta agreed to pay $18bn over a lawsuit involving child safety problems. As an agreement buried within the 130-page settlement published Meta from future liability related to the scandal, new Mexico is the only state to pursue a case over the Cambridge Analytica privacy breach. TikTok and youth mental health.

In the lawsuit filed last year by the state's attorney general, Steve Marshall, Alabama asserted the social media app's algorithm pushed increasingly violent content to young users, contributing to a teen mental health crisis and causing related emergency room visits to "skyrocket".

Meanwhile, the state additionally accused TikTok of falsely claiming that it limits access to inappropriate content to have the app rated safe for teens in app stores and misleading the public concerning the Chinese government's access to US users' data.

According to the Alabama attorney general's office, the state will receive a minimum of $100m due within ⁠⁠45 days under the settlement, with the potential to receive up to $300m if certain conditions are met.

In the settlement, TikTok agreed to implement a two-hour daily time limit, pause after 15 minutes of employ and improve age checks for users.

At least 27 other states and Washington, DC, have additionally sued over similar claims. TikTok previously reached a $400m settlement with the US Department of Justice over allegations that the firm violated federal children's privacy laws.

For now, facebook found liable as TikTok settles for $100m over user safety remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.