Meta's $18 Billion Settlement & The Queen Of Country Passes On

Hi readers, happy Thursday! Today, we’re covering Meta’s $18 billion social media settlement, a deadly flash flood in Nepal, Canada’s retaliation to Trump, measles making a comeback, Dolly Parton’s passing, and SpaceX’s $100 billion spaceport plan.

“I figured I'd been as poor as anybody could be, so I had everything to gain and nothing to lose.” ― Dolly Parton

Meta Meets Its Match

Meta – the tech giant that owns Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp – has agreed to pay an $18 billion settlement in a landmark teenage social media addiction trial. The lawsuit, brought against the company by 29 states, alleges that the firm violated state consumer protection laws by designing its products to be addictive, and also accuses Meta of violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. The settlement will 

Under the settlement, Meta has agreed to implement multiple new safety features, including: two-hour daily time limits, disabling like counts, a block on push notifications during school hours, stronger age-verification measures, and “age-appropriate” content controls aimed at preventing bullying and filtering out content that could be harmful to teens’ mental health. On the payment side, the tech giant has agreed to pay out billions of dollars split across 48 states (New Mexico and Florida are the missing ones), Washington, D.C., and a few U.S. territories. The maximum overall payment of $18 billion equals just a fraction of the $201 billion in revenue the tech giant brought in last year.

On top of that, 30% of the $18 billion settlement amount ($5.3 billion) will only be paid out if YouTube and TikTok agree to two conditions. The first involves Meta and its two rivals implementing further protections – including a one-hour daily time limit, a block on nighttime usage of their platforms, and stricter age-verification measures. The second part requires both of those companies to pitch in to also pay $5.3 billion out to the plaintiffs, split evenly between both of the platforms. 

“Today, we have secured a settlement with Meta that will make social media less dangerous for our kids and make a world of a difference for children and their families,” said Rob Bonta, California's attorney general. “Meta has agreed to make massive transformations that will reduce the risk of harm from its platforms – and will do it within months.” Skeptics of the deal say it doesn’t go far enough – some want stronger social media regulations passed by Congress, while others are calling for other platforms to adopt the framework agreed upon by Meta.

A Torrent of Trouble

• Early on Wednesday, a flash flood accompanied by mudslides killed 160 people and left over 1,300 missing along the Nepal-Tibet border. According to Nepal’s Foreign Affairs minister, the incident was triggered by an earthquake in the mountainous region, which caused an avalanche that flooded the nearby Bhote Koshi river with melted snow (though the U.S. Geological Survey is stating that the landslide was not triggered by an earthquake). The swollen river eventually overflowed, leading to massive flooding in multiple villages along its banks.

• According to both Nepalese and Chinese officials (Tibet is an autonomous region of China), roughly 579 tourists are among the missing. Both governments are also predicting casualty numbers to grow over the coming days, with Nepalese officials stating that they anticipate “huge scale loss” as recovery efforts continue. “Work has started to take necessary steps in co-ordination with the medical team, scouts, and Red Cross,” said Nepalese Prime Minister Shah, and India has already begun sending aid to its northern neighbor.

Bad News For U.S. Goods

• The U.S.-Canada trade war heated up on Tuesday, when Canada announced its response to the U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods which went into effect over the weekend following a few days of failed negotiations. Canada’s tariffs largely mirror the U.S.’s in terms of the goods they’re targeting; they’ll affect roughly 700 items totalling roughly $20 billion, and are set to take effect on September 8. Highlights include a 50% tariff on American steel and aluminum, and a 25% tariff on American-made cars.

• “Canada’s countertariffs are designed primarily to provide protection for Canadian industry impacted by U.S. tariffs and allow them to compete against U.S. products in the Canadian market,” said Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne. “It’s all about fairness. It’s all about level playing field. It’s all about supporting Canadian workers and Canadian businesses.” With the tariffs taking effect in a little more than a week, some analysts are hoping that negotiators might have the time needed to prevent a full-blown trade war from breaking out, though neither side seems willing to back down at the moment.

Additional World News

• CIA chief in Moscow for unannounced talks, US media reports (BBC)

• China denounces US threat of sanctions over trade with Iran (Guardian)

• Official leading Trump's Gaza ceasefire effort criticizes Israel for its attacks (AP) 

• Two German airport workers die of malaria after 'mosquito arrives on plane' (BBC)

• Fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record threatens to become worst in history (WaPo, $) 

• German GDP, business sentiment beat expectations in latest sign of momentum (Reuters)

Measles Makes Its Return

• According to Pennsylvania health officials, two unvaccinated people have died of measles in the state. Those mark the first U.S. deaths due to measles this year, and are a deadly warning about what happens when vaccination rates fall. Nationwide, the U.S. has seen five measles-related deaths over the past two years, eclipsing the total number of deaths related to the disease that occurred over the prior three decades. 

• “My deepest sympathies are with the loved ones who are facing this unimaginable loss,” said Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen. “Because measles was largely eliminated in the Commonwealth for more than three decades, people are not familiar with this disease and don’t fully understand the potential severity of the illness.” 

• 2026 has become the U.S.’s worst year for measles cases since 1991. The disease was eliminated from the country in 2000 due to high vaccination rates, but it’s made a resurgence thanks to the anti-vaccine movement. Recently, the country fell below the 95% vaccine coverage rate needed to keep the disease from spreading, and an international panel is set to examine whether the U.S. should be able to keep its “measles free” status later this year.

Bittersweet Memories

• Dolly Parton, one of the biggest country stars the U.S. has ever seen, passed away on Tuesday night at the age of 80. According to her family, the universally-beloved icon died following a short struggle with cancer at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville.

• Since rising to prominence in 1967, Parton had 25 No. 1 country radio singles, pumping out more than 3,000 including hits like “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You.” Besides her music, Parton was also known for her over-the-top glamorous fashion and her “Dollyisms,” little bits of wisdom she’d drop while wearing a massive blond wig and a bedazzled dress.

• “I’ve created this and played it up — the makeup, the whole persona,” Parton said in a 2002 interview with The Times. “But this isn’t all I am. It’s not even most of what I am. Hopefully people can see beneath the hair to know there’s a brain, beneath the boobs to know there’s a heart and behind all the other stuff to know there’s some talent.”

Additional USA News

• US designates Palestine Action a terrorist group (BBC) 

• The bizarre roots of Trump’s trade war on Canada (Vox)

• Judge Allows Option of Manslaughter Verdict in Lindsay Clancy Case (NYT, $)

• Pentagon's NATO review preparing troop options for Hegseth by November 6 (Reuters)

• Will Trump's latest beef plan make your hamburger cheaper? Not much, experts say (NPR) 

• Three Secret Service officials have been placed on administrative leave pending investigation (AP)

Just Another Louisiana (Space)Port

• SpaceX is moving more of its operations into the South. Earlier this week, the aerospace/social media/AI firm announced that it plans to build a $100 billion launch facility in Louisiana. The facility (SpaceX’s fourth U.S. launch site) is set to be built on Pecan Island, a 125,000-acre that will eventually be home to multiple launchpads which will together “support thousands of launches annually.” 

• Once it’s built, the imaginatively-named Starbase Louisiana will serve as the main launch site for Starship, SpaceX’s next big thing. Starship is a still-in-development “fully, rapidly reusable rocket,” which the company plans to use to ferry cargo and its Starlink internet satellites into orbit. 

• According to Louisiana’s government, the project will bring “3,000 direct new jobs over the next 10 years” across, and “8,100 indirect new jobs.” Those 3,000 direct jobs are slated to pay an average salary of $92,600, almost double the average wage in the area surrounding the build site. The project will break ground in 2027, and the first Starship launch is slated for 2029.

Additional Reads

• Yayoi Kusama: Japanese avant-garde artist dies aged 97 (BBC) 

• SpaceX plans to build a $100 billion spaceport in Louisiana (CNBC)

• Tesla is finally launching the Cybercab — let’s hope it’s ready (Verge)

• Beyond China's humanoid robots, a quieter machine revolution is unfolding (BBC)

• Nvidia tops Q2 expectations on revenue of $96.2 billion, offers strong Q3 outlook (Yahoo!) 

• Everyone’s Using This A.I. Dictation App That I Want to Murder With a Hammer (NYT, $)

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Peanut For Your Thoughts

Saw someone online say that Dolly Parton was America’s last truly universally-beloved celebrities, which seems pretty true to me.

Editor + Writer: Marcus Gee-Lim

Designer: Joe Stella