Meta has agreed to pay $17 billion and introduce stronger child-safety measures on its Facebook and Instagram platforms to end a landmark trial over teen social media addiction and settle claims filed by 47 states in the US, state attorneys general announced Wednesday.
The settlement resolves a pivotal legal case years in the making that sought to hold the tech giant accountable for the role its platforms played in undermining children’s mental health. The case targeted features designed to hook young people’s attention.
“For years, Meta intentionally deceived the public about the addictive and harmful design features that have wreaked havoc on youth mental health,” Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones said.
The settlement “will put an end to these dangerous practices and deliver meaningful relief that will protect children from online harm.”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the money would be paid out over 10 years, with the state receiving at least $1.5 billion if the settlement is approved by the court. New Jersey expects to receive at least $525 million, while Massachusetts said it was in line for at least $366 million. Virginia’s share is worth $353 million.
Meta urges rivals to adopt similar safety measures
Meta said in a blog post that it was “building on our longstanding efforts to empower parents and support teens.”
“Ensuring teens have a safe and productive experience on our platforms is an absolute imperative for Meta,” the company said. “We want to get this right for parents and teens, and that’s why we partnered with state attorneys general to set a new industry standard.”
The agreement brings an early end to an ongoing court case involving California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey, which were among 29 states that sued Meta in 2023. CEO Mark Zuckerberg was among those expected to take the stand before a jury in federal court in California.
The lawsuit accused Meta of contributing to the youth mental health crisis by deliberately designing features that addict children to its platforms and concealing them from the public. The case also argued that Meta violated federal laws by routinely collecting data on children under 13 without their parents’ consent.
The trial began last week in Oakland, California, with U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers overseeing the proceedings.
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Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, began his testimony late Tuesday and defended Meta’s record and progress on child safety and privacy. Cases in other states had been expected to go to trial later. In addition, nine attorneys general filed lawsuits in their respective states.
New features to include time limits, curbs on notifications
Under the proposed settlement, Meta agreed to adopt a series of safety features, including a “hard cap” on daily time limits and pauses for children using Instagram and Facebook.
It will eliminate push notifications during weekday school hours and bring in “robust” age-assurance measures and “age-appropriate” content controls to prevent bullying and harmful material about eating disorders and self-harm. There will be stronger and more user-friendly parental controls and limits on social comparison features such as “like” counts. An independent auditor will assess how Meta is implementing the safety features and how effective they are.
Meta put the settlement at $18 billion, a figure that apparently includes a large award for Texas. The money is to be paid out annually over 10 years, to fund youth online safety initiatives. However, the company said 30% of that amount — about $5.3 billion — will only be released to states if rivals YouTube and TikTok meet two conditions: implementing similar safety features, including a one-hour daily time limit, a nighttime block and age-assurance measures; and paying the same amount, split between the two companies. Neither YouTube owner Google nor TikTok responded immediately to requests for comments.
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Investigation led by bipartisan coalition
The federal lawsuit was the result of an investigation led by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Vermont.
It followed newspaper reports, first by The Wall Street Journal in 2021, that found that the company knew about the harm Instagram can cause teenagers — especially teen girls — when it comes to mental health and body image issues. Meta has since added a host of safety features to Instagram, including separate accounts for teenagers with stronger protections around messaging and privacy, along with content restrictions.
But child safety experts, along with some former Meta employees, have long contended that the features are little more than window dressing. Arturo Béjar, a former Meta engineering director, said during his testimony last week that Meta consistently prioritised profits over safety in designing its products, focusing on how often and for how long people used them, even if it was detrimental to their mental well-being.
“If you step away from the product, they are not going to make any money,” he said. While the four states in the Oakland trial did not officially say how much they had been seeking, Meta said in a court filing that financial penalties in the case could amount to as much as $1.4 trillion — a figure legal experts said was unlikely, if not impossible.
Meta settlement at a glance
Payment: Up to $17.1 billion over 10 years Status: Awaiting court approval Platforms: Instagram and Facebook Daily limit: Two hours by default for users under 18 Night block: Midnight to 6 am School notifications: Muted from 8 am to 3 pm Other measures: Age checks, parental controls and independent audits Conditional payment: Around 30% tied to action by TikTok and YouTube
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