The Guardian view on regulating big tech: Meta has got off too lightly | Editorial

31 August 2026 at 20:04

New child safety measures are welcome, but the wider risks posed by these platforms remain unaddressed

“Hook, hold, harvest and hide” was how Megan O’Neill, a lawyer for the US state of California, characterised Meta’s business model in the trial that ended last week with an $18bn settlement, to be shared between the states and territories that brought the case. It was a clever way to describe the company’s approach to users’ attention and data. But the sharpness of her words was not matched by the deal. While the strengthening of child safety features is welcome, the tech giant once again batted off efforts to alter its products.

Meta’s decision to settle enabled it to avoid any admission of liability. It put a stop to the awkward questions being asked of witnesses including Adam Mosseri, Instagram’s CEO, and the damaging claims made by whistleblowers such as Arturo Béjar. This former Meta safety engineer told the court that his own daughter had been sent unsolicited photos of male genitals on Instagram.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Anthropic sued over alleged theft of ‘tens of thousands’ of songs

The Guardian

By: Dan Milmo Global technology editor

31 August 2026 at 15:42

AI company faces multibillion dollar lawsuit over misuse of copyrighted songs to train Claude models

All AI wants for Christmas is a vast back catalogue of songs without paying for it, according to a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against the startup behind the Claude chatbot.

Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell, music publishers who manage the copyright of songs on behalf of songwriters and composers, are seeking damages for alleged misuse of “tens of thousands” of copyrighted works by Anthropic.

Andy Burnham pledge to end indefinite prison terms ‘a step towards healing’

World news | The Guardian

By: Jamie Grierson

30 August 2026 at 15:36

Campaigners welcome plan to bring IPP sentences to a close but say the move is long overdue

Campaigners have hailed Andy Burnham’s pledge to bring an end to indefinite jail terms as “a day that thousands of families have spent years fighting for”.

The prime minister has said he will “end the injustice” of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences during this parliament, meaning people will no longer be trapped indefinitely under a sentence abolished more than a decade ago.

Как я перешёл на NixOS и настроил там OpenClaw

Все публикации подряд на Хабре

By: vokrob

30 August 2026 at 12:32

Полгода на Arch, одно обновление ядра и AmneziaWG выходит из строя. Snapper молчит, бэкап сломан. Решил попробовать NixOS…

Cells for arrested offenders may run out without early prison release, says Labour

World news | The Guardian

By: Kevin Rawlinson

29 August 2026 at 16:25

Bridget Phillipson says government would not have to consider releasing prisoners early if Tories had created more capacity

Cells to hold newly arrested people could run out without the early prison release scheme, a minister has said.

Bridget Phillipson defended the plan to address the prison capacity crisis in England and Wales by releasing thousands of prisoners early, which has been criticised by domestic abuse charities, bereaved families and probation officers among others.

Is it legal to train AI models on copyrighted books? It’s complicated

TechCrunch

By: Amanda Silberling

23 August 2026 at 18:00

Most published authors have, without their knowledge or consent, contributed to the development of the same AI tools that threaten to undermine their livelihoods. That seems illegal, right?

Reading view