Are Facebook and Instagram too addictive for children and teenagers? That’s a question that the United States wants Meta to answer. The answer, however, comes in the form of a US$ 18 billion fine and changes to how teenagers can use the platforms.

Recently, Meta found itself in a pool of hot water over how addictive their platforms are for younger users. The government alleges that the company incentivizes a teenager’s prolonged usage and collects their data without their consent.

After some deliberation, Meta has agreed to the US$ 18 billion settlement and policy changes for younger users, pending the court’s agreement, of course.

Besides the hefty (but ultimately insignificant for the multi-billion dollar company) fine, Meta will impose stricter limits on teenage use. For example, teenagers can now use the platforms for only up to two hours per day. Meta will also block usage between midnight to 6AM. Parents can still manually change these limits. The platforms are also blocking notifications for younger users at night and during school hours.

Meta says that they’ll increase these limits to only one hour per day and a block from 10PM to 7AM, if rival platforms like YouTube and TikTok follow in their footsteps. They will also withhold 30 percent of the fine, unless these same platforms agree to the limits.

Most notably, Meta is starting a new “non-algorithmic” feed for teenagers which limits what they see only to accounts that they actually follow. This prevents the algorithm from sinking them into an endless doom-scrolling loop. Honestly, we wish that this “feature,” which is already what Meta was years before, comes to all users, too.

Though these measures are a welcome change to combat addiction, it’s only the tip of the iceberg on what Facebook and Instagram can change for the better. One can hope that this settlement will lead to more changes in the future.

BINI and KATSEYE topped recent Google Search trends ahead of their Coachella performances this month.

It’s clear that Coachella attendees are curious about the popular Philippine pop girl group, as well as the Los Angeles-based global girl group.

That’s aside from dedicated BLOOMs who are eager to see Aiah, Colet, Maloi, Gwen, Stacey, Mikha, Jhoanna, and Sheena take part in the legendary California music festival on Friday, April 10.

According to Google Trends data, global searches for the term “BINI Coachella” hit a perfect
score of 100 on April 8.

This indicates that the search term briefly became the highest-ranking search trend.

Meanwhile, “KATSEYE Coachella” scored 98 on April 7 on Google Trends, followed by a perfect 100 on April 8.

The timing of KATSEYE’s new single, “PINKY UP” couldn’t have been better as it dropped just a day before their Sahara stage set.

At the same time, the Filipino octet has also released “Blush” as their new comeback song — just hours ahead of KATSEYE.

As such, EYEKONS have also been scouring the interwebs for the global girl group.

And as these are worldwide search data, the recent Google Search trends somewhat prove these artists are effectively breaking through the global mainstream, and introducing their respective cultures to the global stage.

A new social platform built around creators, fans, and communities will launch globally on April 9. It is called ZOOP, and the launch will coincide with a dedicated Eurovision Song Contest Asia channel.

ZOOP positions itself as a challenger to the likes of Meta (Facebook, Instagram) and TikTok. It is designed so creators keep more of the value they generate — up to 80% of revenue, and potentially up to 50 times more than on traditional platforms.

Additionally, fans also get rewarded for meaningful engagement. ZOOP says it has already attracted nearly 1 million users via its web version, beta tests, and waitlist ahead of launch.

Securing a partnership with Eurovision Song Contest Asia as its exclusive social partner is a bold first move. And it isn’t just random; ZOOP plans to host dedicated channels, communities, competitions, voting and rewards around major cultural moments.

ZOOP is powered by Hedera for scalable, low-cost, and transparent participation. The social media platform also has an exclusive global rewards partnership with TLC Worldwide across more than 50 countries.