What reckoning? The settlement benefits Meta immensely. They just got the go ahead to implement age-gating at a wide scale, which will make their ad platform even more lucrative after each account can be tied back to a real identifiable person. They've totally captured the regulatory system, and the media is applauding it.

It was a clear win for Meta.

> https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/aug/27/meta-s...

> That $18bn is certainly more than most companies could pay, but it pales in comparison with the $1.5tn Meta’s own PR team warned the case could cost it had it gone through the courts – and the more realistic $200bn the prosecuting lawyers sought to squeeze from the firm.

The consensus opinion was that the case would have cost them a lot more if it hadn't settled. Truly, the outcome couldn't have been more favorable to Meta. "Reckoning" -- yeah, right.

Meta's stock price went up on the news, which I took to be a sign of the settlement costing less than investors feared it would when they previously priced meta stock. I didn't think about the regulatory capture angle.

> What reckoning? The settlement benefits Meta immensely.

This was one lawsuit. It settled their immediate legal problems with the 47 states and DC that were included in the settlement.

Florida is continuing with its own case against them, and there are also thousands of other pending cases from individuals (89%) and governments below the state level such as school districts (11%).

The present settlement does include an admission of guilt so the plaintiffs in those other suits so there plaintiffs will also have to prove guilt, put they can use a massive amount of material that the states put together in their case.

They can use anything that was presented in open court.

They can also get copies of all the internal Meta information that the state Attorney Generals got via discovery, even if those documents were never presented in open court. They may have to keep them confidential and so can't use them in open court, but they can use them to build their case and depose Meta executives about them.

All in all, the plaintiffs in thousands of pending cases have just been handed a multi-million page trove of evidence put together using the enormous resources of 47 states designed to nail Meta.

This is the correct read.

Meta is pushing forward every measure it can to record precise identity, age, and income with everything that you do.

They're the ones behind the push for internet porn ID laws.

They're the ones behind the push for device attestation.

They're the ones behind the push for social media ID requirements.

They make more money, we lose freedom and privacy and sleep closer and closer to 1984.

One day the state will punish us for our ideas and associations. They already do to an extent, but it's going to get unbearable once the machinery is in place.

Democrats, Republicans, Socialists, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Atheists - everyone should oppose this.

The age gate isnt about ad revenue. Its about liability and in the grift economy, the victim is always liable.

You posit a useless POV