A judge conditionally authorized a $725 million Meta lawsuit payment last month, opening the door for Facebook users to claim a share of the award, according to The Hill.

Meta will pay the money to end a lawsuit that claimed Facebook had shared user data with several outside parties, most notably the consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, which worked on Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

A total of 87 million Facebook users may have had their data collected by the company.

Although the Meta lawsuit settlement will be finalized in September, Facebook users can start the claims process immediately.

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Qualifications and Application for Meta Lawsuit Settlement

Claims can be submitted by any Facebook user who had an account between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022. Nevertheless, the payment is restricted to users in the United States.

A user's claim can be submitted either electronically or by regular mail, NBC Los Angeles noted.

Users must visit the Facebook User Privacy Settlement page, answer specific questions, and choose a payment method.

Meta lawsuit payment will be made through a prepaid Mastercard gift card, PayPal, Venmo, a bank transfer, or Zelle.

Users can also file by mail by printing the appropriate forms and returning them, duly completed, to the address provided on the form.

The claim forms must be submitted by August 25, 2023.

How much money each user will make is still being determined, but the longer the user has been active on Facebook, the larger the payment will be.

However, the Meta lawsuit payout is unavailable for a few months.

Payments will not be made until after the final settlement hearing, which is scheduled for September 7, 2023.

Meta Rolls Another Round of Layoffs

The layoffs that Meta announced in March have already begun, said Engadget.

The company stated that the first tranche of the approximately 10,000 affected workers would be laid off. Software engineers, AR/VR game developers, and UX designers are among the positions targeted in this first round of layoffs.

The business department will reduce the number of available positions in May, and other tech workers may follow next month.

When the layoffs were announced last month, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg provided a timeline for when they would occur.

It follows Meta's massive layoff of 11,000 employees last fall. These two rounds of layoffs are the first of their kind for Meta, and Zuckerberg has described 2023 as a "year of efficiency" in which the firm would focus its efforts and, in theory, be more productive.

Like other large IT companies, Meta has had to lay off employees due to the economy, and it also needs help transitioning to the metaverse.

The company's Reality Labs division has invested heavily in virtual reality headsets and platforms like Horizon Worlds. However, this has not translated to significant revenue growth for the social networking pioneer.

In 2022, Meta's primary social platforms saw declining ad revenue.

According to the company's forecast for the most recent quarter, the worst downturns may be over.

The outcome will be revealed the following week. It is still being determined how long it will be before Meta's social enterprises, including Reality Labs, experience sustainable growth again.

READ MORE: Meta Is Lifting Donald Trump's Ban From Facebook, Instagram After 2 Years 

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Written by: Bert Hoover

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