Meta has emerged victorious in a massive antitrust case, with a federal judge ruling that the company is not a monopoly. The win was largely attributed to TikTok's existence, which has forced Meta to compete more aggressively in various markets.
In the FTC's case against Meta, it was argued that the company's dominance of social media platforms, particularly Instagram and WhatsApp, stifled innovation and competition. However, in a surprising twist, the court found in favor of Meta, citing the presence of TikTok as a key factor in the company's ability to adapt and respond to changing market conditions.
While some may view this ruling as a victory for big tech, others argue that it sends an important message about the need for effective antitrust enforcement. "This decision highlights the importance of a level playing field," said a spokesperson for the FTC. "When companies have the resources and scale to compete with others, they are more likely to innovate and drive growth."
In other news, a recent database error caused by Cloudflare took down a significant portion of the web, leaving many users unable to access certain websites. The company has apologized for the outage and is working to rectify the issue.
Meanwhile, Roblox has announced plans to collect tens of millions of kids' selfies in order to use them for age verification purposes. The move has raised concerns about data privacy and the potential risks associated with sharing personal information online.
TikTok has also made headlines recently by introducing a new feature that includes an affirmation journal as part of its screen time management tool. While some have praised the initiative, others have expressed skepticism about the company's motives.
In other tech news, Google's latest Gemini 3 model is now available, and pop culture picks are being discussed on this week's episode of the Engadget Podcast.
In the FTC's case against Meta, it was argued that the company's dominance of social media platforms, particularly Instagram and WhatsApp, stifled innovation and competition. However, in a surprising twist, the court found in favor of Meta, citing the presence of TikTok as a key factor in the company's ability to adapt and respond to changing market conditions.
While some may view this ruling as a victory for big tech, others argue that it sends an important message about the need for effective antitrust enforcement. "This decision highlights the importance of a level playing field," said a spokesperson for the FTC. "When companies have the resources and scale to compete with others, they are more likely to innovate and drive growth."
In other news, a recent database error caused by Cloudflare took down a significant portion of the web, leaving many users unable to access certain websites. The company has apologized for the outage and is working to rectify the issue.
Meanwhile, Roblox has announced plans to collect tens of millions of kids' selfies in order to use them for age verification purposes. The move has raised concerns about data privacy and the potential risks associated with sharing personal information online.
TikTok has also made headlines recently by introducing a new feature that includes an affirmation journal as part of its screen time management tool. While some have praised the initiative, others have expressed skepticism about the company's motives.
In other tech news, Google's latest Gemini 3 model is now available, and pop culture picks are being discussed on this week's episode of the Engadget Podcast.
. I mean, I get what the FTC was saying about how their dominance stifled innovation and competition, but I guess having TikTok as a rival really forced them to adapt 
? It's like when you're trying to keep up with your friend on a game show, and they're doing everything differently - you start to catch on 
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. We should be encouraging healthy competition in the tech world, not letting one company dominate everything 
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. I mean, I get that it's for age verification purposes, but still... personal info is way too valuable to be playing with 
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. I'm not gonna lie, it's a bit concerning that TikTok was the one who saved Meta from getting broken up into smaller pieces. It feels like Meta is just getting lucky with TikTok's existence instead of having to actually innovate and compete on their own merits.
I don't know about you guys, but the thought of sharing my own face with a company that could use it for who knows what nefarious purposes is giving me major anxiety. Can we please just keep our personal info private online?
. I'm not buying the "level playing field" argument from the FTC, but hey, at least they're trying to stand up for something 
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I mean, TikTok showing up like a dark horse and forcing Meta to step its game up is actually kinda cool? 
But at the same time, it's also kinda scary that we're at a point where one company can just be 'forced' to compete more aggressively by a rival. Like, what's next? Are we gonna see companies just buying each other out to level the playing field or something? 
. I mean, it's like they say in The Social Network - "Move fast and break things"... and they did! But seriously, it's a win-win for users like us who don't want to see any one company dominating the social media space. And can we talk about how TikTok forced Meta to step up their game? That's what I call good competition 
. On a more serious note, though, this ruling does highlight the importance of effective antitrust enforcement and making sure companies are playing fair. Fingers crossed for more wins like this in the future 
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. Can't wait to hear more about it on this week's Engadget Podcast episode 
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. I mean, can you imagine all the content creators on Instagram just disappearing? 
It's actually kinda cool that TikTok has been a game-changer for the company, making them more competitive and innovative. Plus, it's awesome to see effective antitrust enforcement in action – we need more of that to keep our online spaces fair and level 
. But at the same time, I'm worried about all the other issues like Roblox collecting kids' selfies... um, not cool 
. But seriously, it's crazy how TikTok played a huge role in helping Meta out. I mean, who wouldn't want some competition? It's good to see innovation and progress in the tech world, even if it means some big players get a pass this time.
. but seriously, data privacy on roblox? that's a major red flag 
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. The FTC's emphasis on promoting a level playing field is well-intentioned, yet it remains to be seen how effectively this will translate into tangible benefits for consumers and smaller firms 
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. And on a related note, I don't think it's cool that Cloudflare's database error took down a bunch of websites 
. Can't they do better than that? 
. What's next, collecting our biometric data or something? 
And don't even get me started on TikTok's new feature... what's really going on there? 
. Don't get me wrong, it's still a bit concerning that the FTC has so little leverage over these giant corps...