Meta has agreed to pay up to $16.68 billion as part of a settlement to resolve lawsuits brought by states across the country alleging that the company designed Facebook and Instagram to be addictive for children, misled consumers about the safety of the platforms, and improperly collected personal data from minors who used them, according to court documents reviewed by Reuters.
The agreement was reached during a federal trial in California that lasted less than a week and concerned claims brought by 29 states. The settlement averts what would have been one of the highest-profile legal cases yet of allegations that social media companies harm young users. Four of the states had been seeking as much as $1.4 trillion in damages, as well as sweeping changes to Meta’s platforms.
As part of the deal, Meta will introduce a series of measures for teenage users, including a daily screen-time limit of two hours, which can only be extended with explicit parental consent. Teenagers will also be blocked from accessing the platforms between midnight and 6 a.m. unless their parents opt them in. Likewise, they will not receive notifications during school hours, between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.
The company will also hide “like” counts and other reactions from children, strengthen safeguards designed to prevent them from viewing inappropriate content, and make additional tools available to parents and guardians.
According to California’s attorney general, the daily limit could be reduced to one hour if competing social media companies adopt similar restrictions.
The states accuse Meta of violating the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which prohibits the collection of data from minors without parental consent. They also accuse the company of misleading consumers by portraying its platforms as safe while executives knew about the risks they posed to young people and examined them internally.
According to the states, Meta consequently developed addictive products that have contributed to mental health problems among some young users, including anxiety and depression, and in some cases have even been linked to suicide.
In a statement, Meta said of the settlement: “Ensuring teens have a safe and productive experience on our platforms is an absolute imperative for Meta. 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.”
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