Facebook

The agreement was reached on the eve of a scheduled trial date. It marks the largest settlement of its kind achieved by a single state, according to the Texas attorney general’s office.

The founder of iWeatherNet, a Facebook page and website that posts updates about Dallas-Fort Worth and Atlanta-area weather, commented about being armed and impatient when a child rang his doorbell.

The social platform was found to have shared user data with third parties without users’ permission.

Attorney General Ken Paxton asserts that the company, which recently rebranded itself as Meta, violated state law when it captured users' facial features without proper consent. Paxton was also questioned if his choice of venue for the announcement had anything to do with one of his primary opponents.

The change comes as Facebook looks to recast its public image from battered social network to tech innovator focused on building the next generation of online interaction, known as the "metaverse."

When a company can't use the internet's core protocols, it's as if its online domains simply don't exist. That happened to Facebook, creating a cascade of problems.

Facebook along with its Instagram and WhatsApp platforms suffered a worldwide outage Monday that has extended more than three hours. Facebook’s internal systems used by employees also went down. Service has not yet been restored.

Facebook is putting a hold on the development of a kids’ version of Instagram, geared toward children under 13, to address concerns that have been raised about the vulnerability of younger users.

Net Choice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association say the law violates the constitutional rights of social media platforms themselves.

House Bill 20’s primary Senate sponsor argued that social media platforms are the modern equivalent of “common carriers” and should be treated as such in terms of protecting freedom of speech.

The company has reached out to a number of researchers in recent months, though those same researchers are skeptical about the company's motivations.

While the panel upheld Facebook's suspension of the former president, it said the company's indefinite ban was wrong and gave Facebook six months to either ban Trump permanently or reinstate him.