Around the globe, and sometimes out of the media glare, Meta is facing a tranche of lawsuits. For today\u2019s First Edition, we look to some of these others battles to hold the tech leviathan to account, with the Guardian\u2019s global technology reporter Aisha Down. But first the headlines.<\/p>\n
Five big stories<\/p>\n
Nepal | The international community was scrambling to get aid into flood-stricken parts of Nepal and Tibet on Thursday as authorities warned<\/a> that a lake \u2060formed at the \u2060site \u2060where the \u200bdeadly torrents occurred \u2060was rising and \u2060at risk \u200bof \u200cbursting.<\/p>\n Russia | Russia has said it could retaliate against the UK<\/a> for its support of Kyiv by striking military targets inside and outside Ukraine, amid reports that the director of the CIA warned the Kremlin against attacking Nato during a secretive visit this week.<\/p>\n UK news | Seven people charged with vandalising <\/a>Donald Trump\u2019s Turnberry golf course in Scotland have been accused of malicious damage \u201chaving a terrorist connection\u201d.<\/p>\n Europe news | Ratko Mladi\u0107, the infamous Serbian general who was serving a life sentence for genocide committed during the Bosnian war, has died in prison<\/a> in The Hague, a UN official and his lawyer confirmed.<\/p>\n Climate crisis | The only climate scientist teaching at West Point, the US army\u2019s military academy, was fired<\/a> after he resisted an order to stop teaching about the human causes of the climate emergency.<\/p>\n In depth: \u2018Our lives do not matter to them\u2019Abrham Meareg has been waiting four years for his case against Meta to be heard. He claims Facebook failed to act on posts inciting violence\u200b which led to the murder of his father. Photograph: Foxglove<\/p>\n It looks to be a monumental moment. On Wednesday, Meta agreed to pay up to $18bn (\u00a313.3bn) to a coalition of US states suing it over the harm Facebook and Instagram<\/a> has caused young people. But more significantly, given the company\u2019s trillion-dollar-plus valuation, Meta agreed to make changes to its platforms. The company is now framing this as a precedent for other social media companies to follow, calling on competitors like TikTok and YouTube to fall in line.<\/p>\n The changes largely apply to under 18s and crucially will be turned on by default, marking a major shift from the previous opt-in system for parental controls and teen safety features. These include a two hour use limit per day, no access between midnight and 6am and no push notifications overnight or during school hours. Only parents will be able to disable these features. Adults will also be able to change their children\u2019s feeds to a non-personalised one (which should better protect them from potentially harmful content) and switch off autoplay on videos.<\/p>\n But none of these changes are worth the candle if Meta doesn\u2019t also institute rigorous age verification \u2013 and the experience thus far of Australia\u2019s social media ban has found platforms falling short<\/a> with kids bypassing checks.<\/p>\n While these new standards only apply in the US, optimists believe they could set new global minimum guardrails for social media safety. They mirror many of the limits the UK and Australian governments are already imposing, and on Thursday the UK government called on Meta <\/a>to roll out the court-agreed protections to British children, as did the European Commission.<\/p>\n But across the globe, Aisha tells me, \u201cthere are plenty of other suits waiting in the wings\u201d. Here\u2019s a rundown of a few of them.<\/p>\n Ethiopia \u2013 Fuelling violence<\/p>\n Abrham Meareg is four years into a case against Meta<\/a> which has still not been heard. He claims Facebook failed to act on posts inciting violence and civil unrest. His father, Meareg Amare Abrha, a respected chemistry professor in Northern Ethiopia, was murdered after his address and threatening posts were published on Facebook in 2021 during civil war in the country.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a matter of numbers to them, a matter of statistics,\u201d Meareg said of Meta. \u201cIt has been proven multiple times that our lives do not matter to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Meareg is bringing the $2.4bn lawsuit in the Kenyan courts, accusing the Facebook<\/a> owner of inflaming violence in Ethiopia.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir position is that the algorithm actively promoted these inflammatory posts for weeks,\u201d says Aisha, \u201cdisplaying Meareg Amare Abrha\u2019s name and personal details while calling for his death. These posts went viral and Facebook didn\u2019t have moderators in these languages. People died.\u201d<\/p>\n This is not the first case of its kind. In 2021, a US court dismissed a class action<\/a> brought by Rohingya refugees claiming that Facebook\u2019s negligence facilitated the genocide of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar after algorithms amplified hate speech and the platform failed to remove inflammatory posts.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a global tech reporter, I should underscore this is not confined to Myanmar or Ethiopia,\u201d Aisha tells me. \u201cThis spread of misinformation is everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n Scotland via Delaware \u2013 Wrongful death<\/p>\n \u201cWe know what we\u2019re up against\u201d. That\u2019s what Ros and Mark Dowey told me as they launched a wrongful death suit<\/a> against Meta. Their 16-year-old son Murray took his own life after he fell victim to an Instagram sextortion gang.<\/p>\n Since Murray\u2019s death in 2023, the couple have repeatedly called out social media companies \u2013 and Meta in particular \u2013 for their inaction in the face of overwhelming evidence of harm. \u201cIt\u2019s time [they] took accountability for what they\u2019ve done to our young people.\u201d<\/p>\n The lawsuit was filed in Delaware, where Meta is incorporated, by the US-based Social Media Victims Law Center acting on behalf of the Doweys, as well as the family of Levi Maciejewski, a 13-year-old from Pennsylvania who was also a victim of sextortion before taking his own life.<\/p>\n Their case argues that both deaths were \u201cthe foreseeable result of Meta\u2019s design decisions and repeated refusals to implement affordable, available and identified safety features due to Meta\u2019s prioritisation of engagement over user safety.\u201d<\/p>\n Meta said at the time that \u201cwe support law enforcement to prosecute the [sextortion] criminals \u2026 and we continue to fight them on our apps on multiple fronts.\u201d<\/p>\n The Netherlands \u2013 Censorship <\/p>\n Repro Uncensored, an NGO tracking digital censorship, has initiated formal legal action against Meta in the Netherlands. Together with other affected organisations, it is arguing the company\u2019s moderation systems have unfairly targeted LGBTQ+ accounts and violated European digital rights laws.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve highlighted over one hundred cases worldwide of accounts belonging to queer groups and abortion access providers being removed or restricted,\u201d says Aisha.<\/p>\n Repro Uncensored is also aiming to pursue regulatory action in Latin America, where Meta has \u201cshadow banned\u201d<\/a> (quietly restricted the visibility of) content from accounts offering women\u2019s health services.<\/p>\n European Commission \u2013 Addictive design<\/p>\n Earlier this year, the European Commission accused Meta of breaching the EU\u2019s Digital Services Act, citing what it described as \u201caddictive design\u201d<\/a> on the company\u2019s platforms. If the ruling is confirmed, the company could be fined up to 6% of its total annual turnover.<\/p>\n Last month, the EU also accused Meta of disregarding available data on the amount of time children spend on Instagram and Facebook at night, and how features like reels and stories could lead to compulsive use.<\/p>\n Many of the design changes EU officials want Meta to make \u2013 scrapping autoplay and infinite scroll as default settings, for example \u2013 have just been agreed in this week\u2019s US settlement. We might well see Meta change tack on this European front, given the EU is actively considering a social media ban for under 16s.<\/p>\n But the algorithm lives on \u2026<\/p>\n At stake in the US case was the possibility that Meta might be forced to change its algorithm. This would have entirely upended their business and the content we all see. Although the US settlement will lead to some changes for minors in this regard, \u201cit\u2019s hard to see this concession changing the equation in war zones or creaking democracies,\u201d Aisha says. \u201cAt base level, the algorithm is what has poisoned our information ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n Without a transformation of the algorithm itself, Aisha says, cases like those listed here will keep coming. \u201cMeta promised the digital commons and they continue to let those commons be filled with misinformation and calls to murder people.\u201d<\/p>\n Have your say<\/p>\n We\u2019d still like to hear your thoughts about the newsletter \u2013 what you enjoy, what we could do better, subjects you\u2019d like to read more of \u2013 so please do fill out our short survey. It should take around five minutes, and your feedback will help us shape First Edition for the future.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a>Free newsletter | Every weekday<\/p>\n Sign up to First Edition<\/p>\n Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what\u2019s happening and why it matters<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Take the survey here<\/a><\/p>\n What else we\u2019ve been enjoying\u2018When I was starting off, you rarely heard a Scottish accent on TV or film, other than Sean Connery\u2019 \u2026 Robert Carlyle. Photograph: Alana Paterson\/The Observer<\/p>\n The Guardian\u2019s reader interviews are always well worth your time, and this week\u2019s<\/a> iteration, with Full Monty actor Robert Carlyle, is no exception. Michael<\/p>\n I like to browse the Heritage Crafts\u2019 red list from time to time (silk ribbon making, Highland thatching) so was delighted to read Lauren Almeida\u2019s interviews<\/a> with young workers turning to these \u201cAI-proof\u201d trades. Libby<\/p>\n Frances Ryan is unflinching in her column<\/a> on politicians and their perks: MPs criticising Farage\u2019s finances must also alight from the gravy train. Michael<\/p>\n I always enjoy the Glasgow Bell\u2019s deep dives<\/a> into the cultural eccentricities of my city, and this lightly-drawn piece on the closure of one of our most infamous pubs does not disappoint. Libby<\/p>\n All you need to know is how this story<\/a> begins: \u201cI was naked in our tent at Burning Man last year when all hell broke loose \u2026\u201d Michael<\/p>\n SportDanny Welbeck of Chelsea scores their first goal. Photograph: Jacques Feeney\/Offside\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Football | Danny Welbeck scored his first goal for Chelsea<\/a> in their 2-0 win over Luton in the Carabao Cup second round, but Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez was left out.<\/p>\n Cricket | Seamer Mohammad Abbas claimed four wickets<\/a> for the tourists while Jordan Cox and Jamie Smith led England\u2019s resistance in the second Test at Lord\u2019s.<\/p>\n Football | Arsenal face mouthwatering assignments<\/a> against Real Madrid and Bayern Munich as they bid to go one better than last season\u2019s agonising near miss and win a first Champions League title.<\/p>\n Something for the weekend<\/p>\n Our critics\u2019 roundup of the best things to watch, read, play and listen to right now<\/p>\n Heather Mitchell as Dani and Hugo Weaving as Billy in Dalliance. Photograph: Lisa Tomasetti\/Paramount+<\/p>\n TV Music Film Game The front pages Photograph: The Guardian<\/p>\n \u201cRace to get aid to Nepal and Tibet amid warnings of further floods\u201d, is the Guardian\u2019s front page today. The Times leads with \u201cNepal death toll climbs amid fears of new flood\u201d and the Mail says \u201cFaces of Britons missing in Nepal\u201d.<\/p>\n The Telegraph\u2019s headline is \u201cPolice surge to tackle Northern gang wars\u201d, the Mirror\u2019s take is \u201cUnder siege\u201d, and the Sun asks \u201cHow did UK town become a war zone?\u201d.<\/p>\n The i Paper\u2019s splash is \u201cCaught on camera in the UK: China Embassy guards using their electroshock weapons to threaten protesters\u201d. Metro leads on \u201cHotel migrant numbers halved\u201d, the Express has \u201c21,294 criminal who should be deported still on streets\u201d, and the FT says \u201cUefa primes criminal lawsuit against Infantino Fifa stake sale debacle\u201d.<\/p>\n The Latest Photograph: The Guardian<\/p>\n \u2018Tsunami from the sky:\u2019 floods leave trail of devastation in Nepal and Tibet<\/p>\n Hundreds of people are missing or have been killed after a catastrophic flash flood hit Nepal and Tibet on Wednesday. Entire villages have been destroyed, many of which are popular pilgrimage and trekking destinations for tourists. Lucy Hough talks to global editor Devika Bhat about how the devastating event unfolded<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cartoon of the day | Rebecca Hendin Illustration: Rebecca Hendin\/The GuardianThe Upside<\/p>\n A bit of good news to remind you that the world\u2019s not all bad<\/p>\n Shirley Manson, Chappell Roan, Olivia Rodrigo and Eli. Composite: The Guardian\/Getty Images\/Charlotte Rutherford<\/p>\n Music festival lineups have always suffered from gender imbalance \u2013 a 2025 report found that women accounted for just 21.6% of headliners across nine major festivals.<\/p>\n Thankfully, a long line of women-led music festivals have tried to redress the balance while raising money for good causes, and this Saturday<\/a>, singer Olivia Rodrigo\u2019s Daisy Chain Fields joins that lineage. Featuring chart-toppers such as Chappell Roan, newer acts such as Eli, and artists who have influenced Rodrigo, such as Stevie Nicks, 100% of its net proceeds will go to Planned Parenthood, the Center for Reproductive Rights and similar organisations.<\/p>\n \u201cOlivia gives me hope that we can lead our generation and generations to come to a harmonious earth filled with strange girls and happy hearts,\u201d says Eli.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787906655_539_1000.jpg\")
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Dalliance | \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606
The wonderful Dalliance is an Australian six-parter beautifully written by Pip Karmel and directed with requisite subtlety by Emma Jackson. It stars Hugo Weaving as bonhomous retired cameraman Billy, who is the catalyst for the reunion of enough old friends \u2013 all in their 60s \u2013 to provide viewers with a feast of storylines, hilarious and heartbreaking by turns, and all suffused with the kind of irreverence and honesty that makes you instantly devoted to the whole endeavour. Dalliance is not about plot. There are no murders nor mysteries to be investigated or suspects to be harangued. It\u2019s a mood piece and an array of portraits of characters who have actually lived some life, been formed by meaningful experiences and come out the other side. Lucy Mangan<\/p>\n
Billy Strings: So Much for Goodbyes | \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605
Billy Strings has been feted by everyone from Bob Dylan to Post Malone to Willie Nelson, the latter describing him as \u201cthe John Coltrane of bluegrass\u201d. His guitar picking is every bit as astonishingly dextrous as his devotees claim; his equally impressive backing quartet are particularly talented at working up a ferociously propulsive head of steam, given that their ranks don\u2019t include a drummer. Strings is equally capable of writing songs so perfectly rooted in tradition that you might be forgiven for assuming Light the Way or Lay Me Down were covers dating back to the 1940s or 50s, and of throwing his listeners a curveball that indicates the breadth of his musical tastes. His penchant for jam band improv is only lightly sketched here, his love of heavy metal is underlined on Burn the Other End, while a devotion to heartlands rock is reflected in the Springsteen-ish narrative of Mill Town Flood. What cuts through is the lingering thought of how rich and powerful the album you\u2019ve just heard is. Alexis Petridis<\/p>\n
De Gaulle: R\u00e9sistance | \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606
Perhaps because it is based on a biography by an Englishman \u2013 Julian Jackson\u2019s A Certain Idea of France: The Life of Charles de Gaulle \u2013 this very enjoyable and gallopingly eventful biopic has an element of amused detachment. The first of two parts, it offers a good-humoured, though naturally sympathetic, perspective on France\u2019s great wartime hero, played with martyred and faintly preposterous hauteur by Franco-Armenian actor Simon Abkarian. De Gaulle is the lofty exile in London, refusing to accept the dishonour of the Vichy government and its capitulation to the Nazis. For reasons that will later become clear, De Gaulle\u2019s own story is mysteriously intertwined with that of a hothead young patriot. A tiny touch of comedy is part of what makes this resemble an old-fashioned 60s war film, although it has evidently taken until 2026 for French cinema to come to terms with its contentious national icon. Peter Bradshaw<\/p>\n
Vholume (PC) | \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606
Vholume\u2019s an on-foot racing game in which you hoof it through spectacularly odd environments, moving from one beam of concrete to the next. You\u2019re clipping your wall-runs and power-slides together to bridge seemingly impossible gaps between buildings, forever in search of the next stretch of track, the next turn, the next jump that gets you to the level\u2019s exit and the worldwide leaderboards. And once that\u2019s done, you have a choice: onwards to another gauntlet, or back to the start of this one again to slice a few microseconds off your score? Or maybe you\u2019d rather head over to multiplayer to race against the ghosts of others? This quickly becomes utterly compelling, and at the heart of it all is the realisation that Vholume is surprisingly accommodating to players of all abilities. Christian Donlan<\/p>\n