News of the Cyber World

[kyonides]

American Facebook Users Can Now Apply for Their Share
of a $725 Million Facebook Settlement

Facebook users have until August 2023 to claim part of a $725 million class-action settlement of a lawsuit that claimed the company’s parent Meta violated their privacy, according to a new website that went online this week.

“If you were a Facebook user in the United States between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022, inclusive, you may be eligible for a cash payment from a Class Action Settlement,” the new website says, in part. “Your rights are affected whether you act or don’t act. Please read the Notice carefully,” it adds.

Those users, which likely encompass the vast majority of American Facebook users who currently have an account on the social media platform, have until Aug. 25, 2023, to submit a claim form.
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Users can either submit an online form or download the form and mail it to the settlement administrator. If the claim is accepted by the administrator, those users will have to give up their right to file a lawsuit against Facebook in connection to the claims.

The case and subsequent settlement sprang from 2018 reports that Cambridge Analytica had paid a Facebook app developer for access to the personal information of around 87 million users of Facebook. That data was then allegedly used to have targeted U.S. voters during the 2016 campaign, according to the suit.
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You must have lived in the United States between May 24, 2007, and Dec. 22, 2022. It means that residents of, for instance, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, European countries, and any other country cannot apply.

People who deleted their Facebook account since the end of 2022 but want some of the settlement money have to provide a date range when they were a Facebook user, according to the website.
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When Can You Receive the Money and How Much?

A final approval hearing is slated for Sept. 7, 2023, to consider whether to approve the settlement. There could be future appeals, which would delay the payment.

The date of the hearing could also be changed due to a variety of reasons.

It’s not clear how much each claimant will receive as the settlement payment amount depends on how many submit claims to the administrator. They will also have to show how long they were a Facebook user during the eligibility period, which will factor into the payment amount.

How to Claim Your Share?

Each settlement class member can submit only one claim relating to the suit. The funds will be sent via your choice of a prepaid Mastercard or payment services like PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, or a direct bank deposit.

“Unless you opt out of the settlement, you are automatically part of the Settlement. If you do nothing, you will not get a payment from this Settlement and you will give up the right to sue, continue to sue, or be part of another lawsuit against the Defendant related to the legal claims or factual allegations resolved by this Settlement,” it says.

Facebook users have to include their name, address, email address, and confirm that they lived in the United States and were using Facebook between May 24, 2007, and Dec. 22, 2022, the form shows.

Twitter Drops ‘Government-Funded’ Label on News Organizations’ Profiles

Twitter stopped using the “Government-funded” and “China state-affiliated” labels for news organizations, their profiles showed on Friday.

Twitter dropped the “Government-funded Media” label from the accounts of U.S.-based National Public Radio (NPR), British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC), and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

It also dropped the “China state-affiliated media” tag on the accounts of Xinhua News, as well as of journalists associated with government-backed publications.

While Chinese publishers’ accounts, including those of their senior staff as well as of some key government officials, started getting the label in 2020, the likes of NPR and CBC were labeled only earlier this month.

NPR and CBC stopped posting on their accounts after that, saying the label was not accurate. CBC posted that it was 69 percent funded by the government, and that was the reason it said the “Government-funded” label was not accurate. Twitter later changed the label to “69% Government-funded,” before dropping it altogether.

CBC also made a post with the CBC profile link in other social media, so that readers could access CBC outside “the realms of Twitter.”

The implication of the “Government-funded” label was that these media were not credible.
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Twitter on Thursday also removed the legacy verified blue tick from the profile of thousands of people, including celebrities, journalists, and prominent politicians, such as Hillary Clinton.

Among those losing their badges were former president Donald Trump, Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates, and reality TV star Kim Kardashian.