Meta Platforms has reached a settlement agreement with states in the United States, agreeing to implement significant changes to Facebook and Instagram and pay up to $18 billion. The settlement comes after allegations that the company intentionally designed the apps to induce addiction in children, misrepresented safety information to consumers, and improperly collected personal data from child users.
The agreement was reached during a high-profile California federal trial focusing on claims that social media platforms had negative impacts on young users. Although Meta denies any wrongdoing, the company has agreed to restrictions on teenagers’ daily usage of Facebook and Instagram, limiting it to two hours per day and blocking access from midnight to 6 a.m. without parental consent. These restrictions may be heightened if other social media companies adopt similar measures.
Furthermore, Meta will enhance safeguards to prevent children from accessing age-restricted content. However, the settlement does not mandate Meta to discontinue personalized recommendations or targeted advertising. Additionally, concerns raised by Meta researchers regarding problematic content on Instagram, such as posts affecting users’ body image, are not addressed in the settlement.
The payout, which amounts to approximately three to four months of profit for Meta, includes over $16.7 billion allocated to 47 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands, with Texas reaching a separate $1 billion settlement. The settlement also resolves disputes related to privacy claims surrounding the Cambridge Analytica scandal, with California, Illinois, New Mexico, and Washington, D.C., receiving $459.3 million to settle those lawsuits.
The settlement is expected to receive approval from U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who commended the agreement as a positive step forward. The legal actions against Meta and other social media companies are part of a broader litigation wave alleging that these platforms have contributed to a national youth mental health crisis.
Moreover, Meta, along with other tech giants like Snapchat, YouTube, and TikTok, faces numerous pending lawsuits in both federal and state courts over allegations of designing addictive features targeting children and teenagers. The settlement signifies a milestone in the ongoing legal battles, with implications for the future regulation and practices of social media platforms.