Worth a deeper look

Yesterday, on our local bus, an elderly gentleman regaled me with stories of local injustices. “I might have to write to the president,” he said. “I’m on his Citizen Cabinet. I have letters from him, with his signature. I’ve given him advice on his war in Iran and on tariffs. I might have to ask him to take a look at what’s happening here.”

This Justice Department, which seems altogether eager to prosecute low-level fraud, has settled with TikTok regarding its violation of federal privacy laws and a 2019 agreement with the department, gathering and sharing data about children without parental consent. Its parent company, ByteDance, will pay $500 million. That’s about one percent of its 2025 profits, by the way. So, you know, that’s gotta hurt. Not.

So far, Meta has not paid the $942 million judgment against it for lack of protections for minors, while it is appealing that decision. Even if it does pay, that adds up to about 1.5 percent of its 2025 profits.

YouTube still hasn’t paid the judgment against it in March 26 for failing to warn young users about features it knew to be addictive. But its parent company, Alphabet (Google), paid over $20 million as part of a settlement in the current president’s lawsuit over his suspension from YouTube in 2021. Remember why that suspension occurred? He incited an insurrection. Alphabet paid him off with money dedicated to his vanity ballroom.

It’s hard to imagine a clearer demonstration of the way the tech billionaires are carving up our economy for their own benefit, without care or concern for the vulnerable in our community.

Maybe the local gentleman on this president’s Citizen Cabinet should ask for an investigation of why giant social media companies refuse to pay their slap-on-the-wrist fines for putting children at risk, while they cough up to stay in favor with this administration.

Seems like that might be worth a deeper look.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/21/technology/tiktok-settlement-justice-department.html?

https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/meta-asks-new-mexico-court-to-stay-enforcement-of-942-million-judgment-pending-appeal/article_40aca50f-aee2-4b7a-8c23-d80c21d0c543.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/meta-youtube-social-media-addiction-lawsuit-verdict/

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/youtube-to-pay-24-5-million-to-settle-lawsuit-over-trumps-account-suspension-after-jan-6-attack