Meta faces $17.1B price tag in landmark child safety settlement

Meta has reached a landmark settlement with 47 states, Washington, D.C. and U.S. territories, agreeing to pay up to $17.1 billion in penalties and make major changes to Facebook and Instagram over claims that the platforms endangered children through addictive features, The New York Times reports. 

Meta will initially pay about $12 billion, with the total potentially increasing if Snap, TikTok and YouTube also settle with the states. As part of the agreement, Meta must make significant changes to its platforms, including limiting teenagers to two hours of daily use, limiting usage between midnight and 6 a.m. and silencing notifications from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. 

The company will also interrupt endless scrolling, strengthen age-verification tools and parental controls and limit features such as beauty filters and visible “like” counts that psychologists have linked to negative social comparisons. 

The settlement effectively ends a major federal trial in California, where California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey were seeking roughly $200 billion over accusations that Meta harmed children, although a judge still must approve the agreement. Meta continues to face numerous other lawsuits from states, teenagers, individuals and school districts. 

The company has already experienced legal setbacks, including a $6 million personal-injury verdict involving Meta and YouTube, and nearly $1 billion in penalties from New Mexico. 

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