Ex-Facebook security exec slams Meta $17 bn no-trial pay-off

The controversial settlement with US states effectively prevented the court from assessing widely-held accusations that Facebook and Instagram were designed to addict minors

Meta’s multibillion-dollar settlement with US states over alleged harm to children on social media does not go far enough, a former member of its safety team has told Politico.

The agreement, announced last week during a federal trial, resolved claims by California and 28 other states that Meta deliberately designed its Facebook and Instagram platforms to keep minors hooked and misled the public about the risks. It provides for payments of up to $17 billion and imposes new restrictions on users under 18.

Arturo Bejar, a former Facebook safety employee and key witness in the case, said in an interview published on Monday that he had spoken to around 40 bereaved parents and that social media had played a meaningful role in their children’s deaths. “These changes would not have saved one of those lives if they had been in place,” he said.

“Meta gets to define harm as whatever they define it as, and they get to put it in terms of the things they’re already doing,” Bejar said.

Under the settlement, minors will face a default two-hour daily limit across Facebook and Instagram and be blocked from most use between midnight and 6 AM unless a parent overrides the restrictions. Notifications will be muted during school hours and like counts hidden. Filters simulating cosmetic surgery or extreme makeup will be banned, while young users will be able to choose a feed that is not personalized. An independent auditor will monitor Meta’s compliance.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said further action was needed, but added that the agreement “provides important protections” for children and teenagers.

Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the settlement resulted from years of discussions with state attorneys general. The company has denied wrongdoing throughout the case, insisting that it has worked to protect children and teenagers online. It has also rejected the idea that Facebook and Instagram were deliberately made addictive, arguing that “social media addiction” is not even a recognized psychiatric condition.

No jury ruled on the allegations, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who had been expected to take the stand, did not testify.

The company continues to face thousands of separate lawsuits over alleged harm to young users. Also last month the European Commission found Meta in breach of its Digital Services Act (DSA), over the “addictive design of Instagram and Facebook.” Meta is currently reviewing the EU’s case files and drafting its formal legal response.

https://www.rt.com/news/644988-meta-child-addiction-settlement/

Democrat-Backed Candidate Admits Quiet Part Out Loud: ‘I Have People Recording Me … I’ll Be F**ked’

Democratic-backed independent Nebraska Senate candidate Dan Osborn admits he can’t openly side with Democratic talking points if he wants to stand a chance at unseating Republican incumbent Pete Ricketts in November, leaked audio showed.

While it is unclear when the audio was recorded or with whom Osborn is speaking, the undercover audio was shared by Townhall on Sunday, explaining the difficulty of pandering to his Democratic base while trying to remain palatable to more moderate Republicans.

“I have people recording me, so I can’t say I want to abolish ICE; I can’t say those words. I’ll be fucked,” Osborn said.

He continued, explaining that Nebraska is approximately 50 percent Republican, 26 percent Democratic and 24 percent independent, before arguing that he would need about 10 percent to 15 percent of the Republican vote to win the race.

“How am I going to do that by fucking saying, ‘Oh, I love trans people, and they should be able to play in sports!’ Fuck no, Jane, that’s not how I win,” Osborn said, talking about Jane Kleeb, Nebraska’s Democratic Party chair.

The audio continues with Osborn explaining that he told Kleeb, “You gotta let me run my race, man. Like, I’m going to say some shit that is going to piss you off, but you gotta know at the end of the day it’s about beating Pete Ricketts,” according to The Plains Sentinel.

In a statement, Kleeb later said that the audio “shows that Dan doesn’t answer to me. He answers to voters,” The Plains Sentinel reported, adding that this is why the party is supporting Osborn: “We choose a mechanic over the billionaire Ricketts every day,” she added.

Osborn, whose campaign team did not respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment, has faced other controversies this election cycle, including calling for “preemptive” mental health checks for AR-15 owners and reports that his daughter has allegedly run multiple pornographic cam-girl accounts.

https://dailycaller.com/2026/09/02/democrat-backed-nebraska-candidate-senate-dan-osborn-audio-leak-trans-ice-midterms/

Trump Promised To Drain The Swamp. Now He’s Building An AI Empire

President Trump bashed the anti-data-center movement earlier this week on Truth Social, putting himself at odds with populist opposition to data centers.

“The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor,” said Trump. “If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign.”

Anger across the country over the spread of data centers has intensified in recent months, as populists on both the American left and right have placed particular emphasis on the issue. For them, the data centers represent the trampling of small-town America, and the rapid expansion of oligarchic power.

Trump — whose 2024 campaign received significant financial assistance from players in the artificial intelligence industry — has worked closely with tech companies throughout his second term.

Many have defended the rapid expansion of data centers as “free markets” at work. As a libertarian, I am a firm supporter of free markets. The data center boom has not been born out of voluntary economic exchanges, however.

Rather, much of it is the result of government cronyism.

Take the recent news that the Trump administration is planning to repurpose federal land to build more artificial intelligence data center infrastructure. In this instance, the government has decided that it is in its best interests — competing with China — to sell off land that has been funded by taxpayers for decades. NextEra Energy, which will be partnering with the federal government in this venture, also donated $1 million to the Trump Vance Inaugural Committee, Inc. in 2025.

Beyond the government’s data center policy, artificial intelligence companies have also received gifts from the federal government in other ways. Palantir Technologies, chaired by Peter Thiel, has received billions of dollars in government contracts. In 2025, they secured a $10 billion contract with the U.S. Army. They were also given $30 million by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for assisting the agency with its “identification and targeting for enforcement.”

The administration has taken a selective approach regarding which private companies they collaborate with — basing their partnerships on the company’s willingness to do the government’s bidding. The most well-known example of this in the artificial intelligence world happened earlier this year, when the Pentagon declared Anthropic a “supply-chain risk.” This clash came after the tech company refused to allow the Pentagon to use its artificial intelligence system, Claude, to operate deadly autonomous weapons or to conduct large-scale surveillance.

The Pentagon would go on to blacklist Anthropic from government contracts, a move that would ultimately be ruled illegal.

I explain this dynamic to make the point that this industry doesn’t operate in a free market environment. The success of these major corporations is heavily dictated by their ability to cozy up to whatever presidential administration is in power. Therefore, it is not incumbent on defenders of capitalism and free markets to support these practices.

There is an even more foundational takeaway from the Trump administration’s prioritization of these projects, however. A resentment against the big government-big business alliance was a core aspect of Trump’s 2016 brand. In his speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention, he played on the base’s skepticism toward the global elite. When describing Hillary Clinton’s donors, he said, “they have total control over every single thing she does.”

“She is their puppet, and they pull the strings.”

More

https://dailycaller.com/2026/09/01/donald-trump-data-center-ai-artificial-intelligence-china-anthropic-palantir/

Ransomware Gang Dumps 6.3GB of Stolen ATF Data After 72-Hour Deadline

Cybernews Says the 6.3GB Cache Exposed Investigation Targets, Phone Records, iCloud Data, and Cellebrite Extractions

A ransomware gang dumped what appears to be 6.3GB of ATF surveillance and investigative files after the federal gun agency suffered a cyberattack that Justice Department officials designated a “major incident.”

The Russian-speaking Qilin group published the files after a 72-hour countdown, according to a Cybernews investigation. Researchers said the cache appeared to expose investigation targets, phone numbers, IP addresses, account identifiers, iCloud records, SIM-card data, and Cellebrite phone extractions.

Gun Owners of America publicized the breach, warning that the leaked material included names and digital evidence connected to criminal investigations.

ATF confirmed the cyberattack and said it severed connections to the compromised environment. The agency later identified the target as its standalone CALEA system, which supports federally authorized electronic surveillance.

The Record reported that the system contained information about targets of ATF investigations. ATF said the breach did not reach its enterprise network, case-management systems, laboratories, or eForms platform.

The bureau said it could not yet confirm the authenticity or full scope of Qilin’s published cache. Cybernews, however, reported reviewing folders labeled for ATF field offices and individual investigations.

An agency that stockpiles Americans’ most sensitive communications and device data failed to keep intruders out of the vault.

https://www.nationalfile.com/article/ransomware-gang-dumps-6-3gb-of-stolen-atf-data-after-72-hour-deadline

https://cybernews.com/cybercrime/atf-qilin-ransomware-cyberattack-data-leak-investigations/

Dutch Central Bank Moves Billions in Gold From U.S. and Canada to London in ‘Crisis Preparedness’ Move

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) – The Dutch central bank announced Wednesday that it has moved billions of dollars worth of its gold reserves out of North America in a move it described as “crisis preparedness” in a time of global political unrest.

It said that between March and August, some 86 metric tons (94.8 tons) of gold were transferred to London from the combined total of around 313 metric tons (345 tons) held in New York and Ottawa, Canada. Before the move, New York housed 31.3% of the Dutch gold and Ottawa held 19.7%. After the move, both cities now hold 18.5%, the bank said.

The bank owns 612.4 metric tons (675 tons) of gold that was worth 72.2 billion euros (about $83.6 billion) at the end of 2025.

“With this relocation, we have improved the tradability of our gold reserves,” the bank’s governor, Olaf Sleijpen, said in a written statement. “We expect that we will never need to use them, but we do need to strengthen our resilience and preparedness.”

More than 27 metric tons (30 tons) of gold were “physically transferred” from the United States and Canada to the Dutch bank’s heavily guarded vault on a military base near the central town of Zeist, the bank said, without elaborating on exactly how the gold bars got across the Atlantic Ocean. A similar quantity of gold was transferred from Zeist to London.

The rest of the relocation was achieved by selling around 59 metric tons (65 tons) of gold in New York and using the proceeds to buy gold in London.

The Dutch bank, known by its acronym DNB, said that gold held at the Bank of England “must meet modern international trade standards and is regarded as the world´s most easily tradable gold and will therefore be the most readily available for DNB in a crisis situation. The gold reserves held in New York and Ottawa cannot be utilized as quickly and directly in such a situation.”

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2026/09/02/dutch-central-bank-moves-billions-in-gold-from-u-s-and-canada-to-london-in-crisis-preparedness-move/