The Bay Foster City Cyberattack, Jury Finds Meta and Google Negligent, and Can SF’s Small Clubs Survive?
Mar 30, 2026
Alexander Gonzalez, KQED senior editor who covers long-form arts and culture stories. He discusses Foster City’s ransomware shutdown and its service impacts. He explores a rare jury verdict finding Meta and Google negligent in youth harms. He also examines threats to San Francisco’s small clubs and community solutions to keep them alive.
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Foster City Ransomware Halted City Operations
- Foster City's ransomware attack paralyzed nonemergency city services for a week, disabling phones, email, permitting, and recreation registrations.
- The city declared a state of emergency to bypass procurement rules and seek outside financial and technical aid to restore systems and investigate potential data exposure.
KQED's 2017 Ransomware Lessons
- KQED suffered a similar ransomware attack in 2017 that forced staff to MacGyver solutions like using cellular hotspots to keep radio on air.
- Staff improvised workflows for months so most listeners likely didn't notice disruption.
Jury Framed Social Apps As Addictive Products
- A California jury found Meta and Google liable for a young woman's depression and anxiety, framing social apps as defective products designed to be addictive.
- Plaintiffs used internal memos showing targeted strategies to recruit tweens and features like infinite scroll as evidence of purposeful design.