Meta Archives | Digital Watch Observatory

Meta launches new AI glasses with Muse Spark assistant

Meta has launched a new generation of AI glasses in partnership with EssilorLuxottica, expanding its push to make wearable AI a mainstream consumer technology.

The new Meta Glasses build on the company’s existing AI eyewear portfolio and will launch with 26 styles across different colours, lenses and frames.

Meta said the glasses include hands-free photo and video capture, open-ear audio, voice control, calls and messaging, live translation and access to Meta AI. The company also said the device offers more than eight hours of battery life, with a charging case providing up to 40 additional hours.

The glasses are the first in Meta’s AI eyewear line to launch with Meta AI powered by Muse Spark from day one. Meta said the model, developed by Meta Superintelligence Labs, gives the assistant stronger multimodal capabilities, including a better understanding of what users are seeing.

The company said the assistant can answer questions, suggest local recommendations, support daily tasks and help users manage schedules hands-free. Meta is also adding features such as dynamic photo capture, pedestrian navigation for displayless glasses and live translation support for 14 additional languages.

The launch reflects growing competition in AI wearables, as technology companies seek new interfaces beyond smartphones. By combining AI assistance with everyday eyewear, Meta is trying to position smart glasses as a practical gateway to always-available AI services.

Why does it matter?

AI glasses move digital assistants closer to the physical world, giving AI systems access to what users see, hear and do throughout the day. That could make AI more useful for translation, navigation, accessibility and hands-free computing, but it also raises questions over privacy, bystander consent, data collection and dependence on platform-controlled AI assistants.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Meta expands AI-powered teen safety protections across its platforms

Meta has announced new teen safety updates across Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger, including expanded age-appropriate content settings, AI-powered age detection, and new parental notification tools.

Meta said the updates are designed to ensure teens receive appropriate protections by default, give parents greater visibility into online activity and strengthen safeguards that support young people’s well-being.

Meta said its 13+ default content setting, recently introduced in India, is now rolling out globally across Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger. The setting is designed to limit exposure to age-inappropriate content by default, drawing on established content-rating principles and parent feedback.

On Facebook, the 13+ default setting is intended to hide content considered inappropriate for teens in areas such as Feed and Reels. It also limits teens’ ability to interact with Profiles, Pages, Groups, and Events that primarily post inappropriate content.

On Messenger, the 13+ default setting limits teens’ ability to view links to inappropriate Facebook content or chat with accounts that primarily share it.

Meta is also expanding its use of AI-powered age estimation systems to identify accounts that may belong to underage users. The company said the system analyses profile context, including birthday celebrations, school-grade mentions, posts, comments, bios, and captions, to assess whether an account is likely to belong to someone underage.

The company said it is adding visual analysis as another detection technique. According to Meta, the technology analyses photos and videos for general indicators associated with age, such as physical characteristics, but does not identify individuals and does not use facial recognition.

Meta said combining visual signals with text and interaction analysis could increase the number of underage accounts it identifies and removes. The technology will be expanded across additional parts of its apps, including Instagram Reels, Instagram Live, and Facebook Groups.

Instagram will also notify supervising parents if a teen repeatedly searches for terms related to suicide or self-harm within a short period, subject to supervision settings. Meta said the feature has been rolled out to supervising parents in the EU, Brazil, and India, with parents and teens receiving notifications that the alerts are on the way.

Parents using supervision can now manage their teens’ activity through Meta’s Family Center across Instagram, Meta Horizon, Facebook, and Messenger. Meta said parents will also be able to see a more holistic view of teen activity across its apps in the coming months, including aggregated time spent.

Why does it matter?

The announcement reflects a broader shift towards age-appropriate design, where platforms increasingly rely on default protections and automated systems rather than expecting young users or parents to configure safety settings themselves. AI-based age detection is becoming a central tool in efforts to identify underage users and enforce platform safeguards at scale.

The update also highlights ongoing debates about the balance between child protection, privacy and platform accountability. While automated age-estimation technologies may help improve online safety, regulators and civil society groups continue to scrutinise their accuracy, transparency and potential impact on users’ rights. As governments around the world consider stricter child online safety requirements, platform approaches such as Meta’s may influence future regulatory expectations.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech, and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

EU orders Meta to restore access for AI assistants

The European Commission has imposed interim measures requiring Meta to restore access to WhatsApp for rival general-purpose AI assistants while an EU antitrust investigation continues.

The measures require Meta to reinstate access to the WhatsApp Business Solution for third-party AI assistant providers under the same terms that applied before 15 October 2025. Meta must comply within five working days and maintain access until the Commission adopts a final decision.

The Commission opened the investigation in December 2025 after Meta changed the terms of its WhatsApp Business Solution to restrict AI providers from using the service when AI was the primary service offered. In February 2026, the Commission sent Meta a Statement of Objections setting out its preliminary view that the conduct could breach the EU antitrust rules.

According to the Commission, Meta appears at first sight to hold a dominant position in the EEA-wide market for consumer communication applications through WhatsApp. It also said Meta may have abused that position by preventing competing general-purpose AI assistants from accessing and interacting with users on WhatsApp.

Meta revised its policy in March 2026 to allow third-party AI assistants back onto WhatsApp, but introduced a fee that the Commission said was, at first sight, equivalent in practice to the previous ban. The Commission warned that the conduct could harm competition at a critical stage in the development of the market for general-purpose AI assistants.

The substantive investigation remains ongoing, and the interim measures do not prejudge the Commission’s final decision. The Commission said it may impose fines or daily penalty payments if Meta fails to comply.

Why does it matter?

The case shows how the EU competition enforcement is moving into the emerging market for general-purpose AI assistants. WhatsApp is not only a messaging service, but also a major access point for businesses and users. If dominant platforms can limit rival AI assistants’ access to such channels, competition in AI services could be shaped before the market fully matures. The interim measures also signal that the Commission is willing to act quickly where it believes platform conduct may create serious and irreparable harm to competition.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech, and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Meta expands Teen Account protections across its platforms

Meta has announced the global expansion of its 13+ content settings for Teen Accounts across Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger.

The settings are designed to provide more age-appropriate experiences by limiting teens’ exposure to content deemed unsuitable for younger users. On Facebook, the 13+ default setting is intended to hide inappropriate content in areas such as Feed and Reels, and to limit teens’ ability to interact with profiles, pages, groups, and events that primarily post inappropriate content.

On Messenger, the default setting limits teens’ ability to view links to inappropriate Facebook content or to chat with accounts that primarily share such content. Meta said its stricter Limited Content setting will also become available on Facebook and Messenger later in 2026.

The company is also testing new measures on Instagram to prevent teenagers from repeatedly viewing similar types of content in areas such as nutrition, weightlifting, and anxiety. Meta said such content can be useful, but should be balanced with other types of content rather than shown repeatedly.

Meta also highlighted findings from an external assessment conducted by Alice, formerly ActiveFence, a digital safety organisation. According to Meta, the review found that Instagram Teen Accounts using the default 13+ setting saw 68% less mature content than a leading competitor’s teen experience, while those using the stricter Limited Content setting saw 96% less.

The company said the assessment helped identify areas for improvement, including detecting accounts that regularly share age-inappropriate content and ensuring policy coverage for risky stunts and viral challenges. Meta said it updated its detection signals and policies in response, and will continue stress-testing and refining Teen Accounts.

Why does it matter?

Meta’s update shows how major platforms are expanding age-appropriate design and content-governance tools for younger users. The focus on repeated exposure to topics such as nutrition, weightlifting, and anxiety also reflects a broader shift in child online safety: platforms are not only trying to block clearly inappropriate content, but also to manage recommendation patterns that may affect young users’ well-being.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

EU court annuls Meta Marketplace designation

The General Court of the European Union has annulled the European Commission’s decision designating Meta as a gatekeeper for Marketplace under the Digital Markets Act, while upholding the company’s designation for Messenger.

The case concerned the Commission’s 5 September 2023 decision designating Meta as a gatekeeper for several core platform services, including Facebook, Messenger, and Marketplace. Meta challenged the decision in part, contesting the classification of Messenger and Marketplace as important gateways under the DMA.

The General Court upheld the Commission’s assessment of Messenger, finding that the service is a number-independent interpersonal communications service distinct from Facebook. The court said Messenger is available through standalone applications, can be used independently of Facebook, and includes tools that allow businesses to engage with users.

The court also found that the Commission did not have to count only Messenger users who were not also Facebook users when assessing whether the quantitative threshold under the DMA was met. It also said the Commission was not required to open a market investigation in the absence of sufficiently substantiated arguments from Meta calling the DMA presumptions into question.

For Marketplace, the court found that the Commission erred in law by relying only on data from the three years preceding designation without taking account of changes made at the end of July 2023. Those changes limited the number of listings that could be published per user and led to the disappearance of the criterion used by the Commission to identify business users.

The court also found that the Commission had not provided sufficient reasoning for classifying Marketplace as an online intermediation service. It said the Commission failed to provide a concrete analysis of the July 2023 changes or to explain their effect on whether Marketplace-enabled business users could offer goods and services to consumers.

As a result, the decision was annulled only to the extent that it designated Meta as a gatekeeper for Marketplace. Meta’s Messenger designation remains in place.

Why does it matter?

The judgement is an important test of how the EU courts will review Digital Markets Act gatekeeper designations. It confirms that the Commission can rely on DMA presumptions where companies do not provide sufficiently substantiated counterarguments, as seen with Messenger. But it also shows that the Commission must properly assess relevant changes and provide sufficient reasoning when classifying a service as a core platform service, as the Marketplace annulment demonstrates.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech, and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Meta turns to subscriptions amid growing AI infrastructure costs

Meta has launched paid subscription plans for Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp as part of a broader effort to diversify revenue beyond advertising. The new offerings form part of a subscription strategy called ‘Meta One‘.

Meta said the subscriptions include additional features for users, while separate premium offerings for creators, businesses and Meta AI users are currently being tested. The company indicated that these future services will also sit under the Meta One umbrella.

The announcement comes as Meta continues to increase spending on AI infrastructure. The company has projected capital expenditure of between USD 125 billion and USD 145 billion in 2026, much of it linked to AI data centres, increasing investor attention on how those investments will generate returns.

According to Euronews, Meta shares rose following the announcement. The company said subscription products will roll out globally, while some future Meta One offerings are expected to begin testing in selected markets outside the EU.

Why does it matter?

The launch of Meta One marks a further shift in Meta’s business strategy as the company looks to diversify revenue beyond digital advertising. Subscription services could provide new income streams while supporting investments in AI infrastructure and premium digital products.

The move also reflects a broader trend among technology companies seeking alternative business models as competition intensifies and AI development costs continue to rise.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

WhatsApp introduces private AI chat mode for Meta AI conversations

WhatsApp has introduced a new private mode for conversations with Meta AI that limits storage and retention of chat data. According to Meta, conversations are designed to disappear after chats end and are not stored on company servers.

WhatsApp head Will Cathcart said the feature responds to user demand for more private AI interactions involving sensitive topics. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg described the feature as an AI product designed without persistent server-side conversation logs.

Professor Alan Woodward of the University of Surrey reportedly raised concerns about how disappearing conversations could affect accountability and investigations into harmful AI interactions. According to reports, critics argued that limited data retention could complicate review processes in cases involving harm or misuse.

Meta stated that the feature will initially support text-based interactions and include safeguards intended to block harmful or illegal requests. The announcement comes amid Meta’s broader expansion of AI-related products and infrastructure investments.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Meta accused of using influencers to defend Instagram child safety measures

The Tech Transparency Project has accused Meta of using influencers, parenting creators and healthcare professionals to promote Instagram child safety tools while the company faces scrutiny over the platform’s impact on minors.

According to the investigation, Meta hosted branded Screen Smart events across the United States, during which influencers and clinicians were introduced to Instagram Teen Accounts and parental supervision tools. TTP said many attendees later shared supportive content across Instagram, TikTok and other platforms, often using paid partnership labels or Meta-related sponsorship hashtags.

The group claims the campaign formed part of Meta’s effort to improve its public image on child safety amid lawsuits, whistle-blower disclosures and criticism over youth mental health harms. TTP said Meta relied on creators with large parent audiences and, in some cases, medical credentials to amplify messages about online safety protections.

Also, the investigation identified doctors and psychologists who promoted Instagram Teen Accounts while having financial relationships with Meta. TTP argued that these endorsements contrast with reports and advocacy concerns that Teen Accounts may not fully protect young users from harmful material, including content related to sex, drugs and violence.

TTP also linked some Meta-affiliated influencers to advocacy for app-store age verification laws, which would require Apple and Google to handle user age checks and parental approval for app downloads by minors. Critics argue such measures could shift responsibility for age assurance away from social media platforms themselves.

Meta did not respond to TTP’s questions, according to the investigation. In a statement cited by TTP from CNN coverage, Meta said it works with parents and creators to spread awareness of safety controls and encourage families to use them.

Why does it matter?

The investigation raises questions about transparency in platform safety campaigns, particularly when sponsored creators and professionals are used to promote tools aimed at parents. As regulators and courts scrutinise child safety on social media, public trust may depend not only on whether platforms introduce safeguards, but also on how clearly they disclose paid partnerships, conflicts of interest and the limits of those protections.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Snap, YouTube, TikTok and Meta settle Kentucky school district lawsuit

At mid-May, Snap, YouTube and TikTok have reached a settlement in a lawsuit brought by the Breathitt County School District in Kentucky. The school district alleged that social media platforms contributed to learning disruption, mental health concerns, and additional financial pressures on schools.

Terms of the settlement have not been disclosed. Meta remained a defendant in the same litigation and was scheduled to proceed to trial on June 15th. However, on May 21st, the company also reached a settlement. The case is one of a broader series of lawsuits involving social media platforms and alleged harms affecting minors and schools.

This follows earlier related cases settled by Snap and TikTok. The companies have faced multiple lawsuits related to alleged harms associated with social media use. In a separate case, a jury awarded damages to a plaintiff in litigation involving Google and Meta. Meta has also recently been ordered to pay $375 million in a separate case brought by New Mexico’s attorney general.

Beyond seeking monetary awards of $60 millions, plaintiffs and state authorities have also called for changes to platform design and online safety measures affecting minors. Additional lawsuits involving social media platforms and youth safety issues remain ongoing in US courts.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech, and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Meta reportedly cuts 8,000 jobs as AI investment and restructuring accelerate globally

Meta is reportedly cutting about 8,000 jobs globally as part of a restructuring aimed at reducing costs while increasing spending on AI infrastructure and products.

According to media reports, the cuts represent about 10% of Meta’s workforce and are intended, in part, to offset the cost of the company’s expanding AI investments. The reductions are expected to affect engineering and product teams in particular, with employees in several regions notified as the restructuring begins.

Reports also indicate that around 7,000 employees are being reassigned to new AI-focused teams, while thousands of open roles have been closed. The restructuring reflects Meta’s effort to redirect resources towards AI products, infrastructure and agent-based tools across its platforms.

In Ireland, reports said around 350 jobs were affected, representing a significant share of Meta’s local workforce. The company has not publicly confirmed all regional figures, but said affected employees and authorities had been notified.

The cuts come as Meta prepares for a major increase in AI-related capital expenditure. Reports say the company expects spending to rise sharply in 2026 as it builds infrastructure for AI models, personalised assistants and other AI-powered features across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and its wider product ecosystem.

Staff concerns have also emerged around the pace of restructuring, internal communication and workplace monitoring linked to AI development. Reports cited employee unease over plans to monitor computer activity as part of AI training practices.

Why does it matter?

Meta’s restructuring shows how major technology companies are reallocating labour and capital around AI. The reported job cuts are not only a cost-saving exercise, but part of a wider shift in which companies are redirecting resources towards AI infrastructure, automation and agentic systems. The development also highlights a growing tension in the tech sector: AI is being presented as a long-term growth engine, while workers face uncertainty over how that transition will reshape roles, teams and investment priorities.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!