Sharpen your perspective on the future of technology and business in 2026.

Take a look inside the new edition of ThoughtWorks Looking Glass and discover how business leaders can prepare their organizations for the future and make informed decisions that have a lasting impact.

Find out more at ThoughtWorks.com slash looking glass.

Here's your afternoon, TNB Tech Minute for Wednesday, February 18th. I'm Julie Chang for the Wall Street Journal. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified today at a landmark social media trial in

Los Angeles. Meta and Google's YouTube are facing the first of 3,000 lawsuits filed against them,

alleging that the companies should be held liable for building algorithmic recommendations and product

features, such as the Infinite Scroll and AutoPlay that make it difficult for teens to log off.

A lawyer for the plaintiff presented a 2015 internal email in which Zuckerberg stated a goal

for 2016 was to increase users time spent by 12%. Zuckerberg responded that the company used to give

team goals on time spent, but doesn't do that anymore. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and

Instagram, said in a statement prior to the trial start

that the plaintiff's lawyers will try to paint an intentionally misleading picture of META

and that it has consistently put teen safety ahead of growth. The trial is expected to go for another

five weeks. Snapchat and TikTok were also originally defendants in the case, but settled with the

plaintiff before the

trial began. The Federal Communications Commission voted Wednesday to advance sweeping reforms

to its nearly $3 billion lifeline phone and internet subsidy program for low-income households.

Champion by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, the changes aimed to tighten eligibility and crack down on

wasteful spending and improper payments. A government review found that over a nearly five-year

period, about 117,000 deceased individuals from California, Texas, and Oregon received

lifeline benefits totaling $5 million. Another nearly $5.5 million was claimed for duplicate enrollments.

Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez opposed the proposed reforms as short-sighted and punitive,

...