Meta has put an unusual threat on the table: shutting down Facebook and Instagram in New Mexico if a judge orders measures such as age verification and algorithm changes. The company claims that the state's demands, ahead of the May 4 trial, are technically unfeasible and could affect millions of users.
The technical challenges behind legal demands 🛠️
Effective age verification, modification of features considered addictive, and detection of 99% of child sexual abuse material are the key points of the conflict. Meta maintains that implementing these filters with total precision is unfeasible on a global scale, as current systems rely on machine learning with non-zero error margins. The company argues that the 99% standard is arbitrary and no technology exists to guarantee it without massive false positives.
The ultimatum: either we leave things as they are, or we'll go play Fortnite 🎮
Meta's stance is reminiscent of a child threatening to take their toys away if they are not allowed to do what they want. It is curious that a company with annual revenues of over 100 billion dollars claims to be unable to verify a user's age, yet can show them personalized ads in milliseconds. Perhaps the next step will be to ask for the return of the adolescent distraction monopoly.