Meta Agrees to Nearly $16.7 Billion Settlement Over Claims Its Platforms Harmed Children

The useful part

Meta Settles Child Harm Lawsuit With 29 States for Nearly $17 Billion | PetaPixel Copied! As Reuters reports, Meta has agreed to pay a maximum of $16.68 billion in its settlement agreement while simultaneously agreeing to make changes to its platforms, instituting new safeguards for children. This lawsuit has been years in the making, and four of the litigating states sought up to $1.4 trillion in penalties and damages.

How it works

• The sprawling cases were widely considered among the most serious legal challenges that Meta had ever faced regarding how its social media networks have affected children.
• There has been considerable research into the effects of social media use on children, and many leading mental health professionals believe that there are serious risks involved.
• Meta's share price increased 1.7 percent today at the time of writing following the settlement.
• The heart of the lawsuit concerned claims that Meta had purposefully designed Facebook and Instagram to be addictive and keep users, particularly young ones, as engaged as possible without proper regard for...
• States had more recently changed their tune, suggesting a settlement may be closer to $200 billion, which is still far higher than the final $16.68 billion figure.

What to take from it

As part of Meta's settlement, which denies any wrongdoing, the company says it will impose daily usage limits and enact nighttime usage restrictions on children using their platforms. "Today, we have secured a settlement with Meta that will make social media less dangerous for our kids and make a world of a difference for children and their families," said California Attorney General Rob Bonta in a statement. Snapchat, YouTube, and ByteDance are all still facing thousands of related lawsuits, per Reuters.

Details worth keeping

Meta has reached a nearly $17 billion settlement in an expansive, 29-state lawsuit concerning claims that Meta's Facebook and Instagram social media platforms were designed to get children addicted to using them and caused significant harm. The agreed settlement will be paid out over 10 years, per NPR. The company's shares are still down 10.9 percent year to date, though.

Related coverage

• Mynbc5: Meta has reached an agreement to settle claims brought by 29 state attorneys general that it intentionally designed addictive platforms that harmed young people's mental health.
• Wesh: Meta has reached an agreement to settle claims brought by 29 state attorneys general that it intentionally designed addictive platforms that harmed young people's mental health.
• Localnews8: By Clare Duffy, CNN New York (CNN) — Meta said Wednesday it has agreed to pay about $18 billion as part of a settlement to resolve a multistate lawsuit claiming that it intentionally designed addictive...
• Wisconsinexaminer: Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, on Wednesday agreed to pay 47 states, the District of Columbia, and a handful of U.S.
• Lpm: The social media giant also agreed to make sweeping changes to Instagram and Facebook.