Meta Settles Teen Social Media Addiction Lawsuit with $17 Billion Payment and Child-Safety
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OAKLAND, Calif. — Meta has agreed to pay $17 billion and add child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms to end a landmark trial over teen social media addiction and settle claims filed by 47 states, state attorneys general announced Wednesday.
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MarketWatchThe settlement came during the second week of a California federal trial over claims brought by a coalition of 29 states that accused Meta META of designing Facebook and Instagram to “entice, engage and ultimately ensnare” children. Meta was also accused of misleading the public over the safety of its platforms and improperly collecting the personal data of children who used its services.
BBC BusinessPublished Social media giant Meta has reached a settlement with US states and territories to resolve a court case related to child safety on Facebook and Instagram.
New York Post BusinessMeta has reached a landmark settlement imposing sweeping new restrictions on how teens use Facebook and Instagram — and it’s hoping other social media companies will follow suit with similar standards.
FortuneGood morning. Meta just settled a landmark child-safety case with a fine of up to $18 billion paid over the next decade, with annual payments equal to less than 1% of its 2025 revenue. Financially, that’s a victory for the parent of Facebook and Instagram, which said the 29-state lawsuit could have wiped out its entire market cap with penalties of up to $1.4 trillion. Meta doesn’t have to admit guilt and almost a third of the fine is contingent on competitors adopting similar measures.
CNBCBeyond the money, Meta must make changes to its apps like Facebook and Instagram as part of the "consent judgement," which the federal court in Oakland, California approved Wednesday afternoon. Those changes include daily usage limits and "nighttime blocks" for teenagers who use the company's apps, "enhanced age assurance measures" that would prevent children from using them, and the creation of additional tools for parents and guardians.
RealClearMarketsThe plaintiffs’ bar thanks you for scrolling. At least it should. Trial lawyers will be the biggest beneficiaries of Meta’s agreeing on Wednesday to pay as much as $18 billion to settle claims brought by 48 states and D.C. that Instagram and Facebook hurt children’s mental health. Read Full Article »
Financial TimesMeta to pay up to $16.7bn to settle children’s social media harm case Case relating to alleged failures of child protection was getting under way in California
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Questions around default settings came up at the trial earlier this week when a lawyer for the states suing Meta pressed Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, on the low adoption rate among teens for the “take a break” feature, which prompts users to step away if they have been scrolling a while.
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Washington Times BusinessThe trial kicked off last week in Oakland, California, with U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers overseeing the proceedings. Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, began his testimony late Tuesday and defended Meta’s record and progress on child safety and privacy.
CNBCThe settlement landed just over a week after opening arguments kicked off. The only notable Meta executive to testify was Instagram chief Adam Mosseri, who took the stand towards the end of the day on Tuesday. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was slated to potentially testify later in the trial.
New York Post BusinessMeta shares popped 4% in premarket trading on news of the settlement, which was announced just days into a landmark trial in California federal court. Both Zuckerberg and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri had been set to testify. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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"All platforms should empower parents and support teens in these ways because we know that when teens are restricted on one app, they simply move to another," Meta said.
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New York Post BusinessThe concern, of course, has been that if Meta is restricted while other platforms are not, teens will simply leave Instagram when their evening limit hits and move to another app.
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While acknowledging the changes go further than Meta has ever gone when it comes to child safety, critics and children’s advocates cautioned it will not solve its myriad problems overnight.
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BBC BusinessNo one is claiming the settlement is a silver bullet, but it's likely Meta and its fellow social media companies will continue to face scrutiny over the safety of children and adults on its platforms.
Washington Times BusinessBut child safety experts, along with some former Meta employees, have long contended that the features are little more than window dressing.
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For years, Meta “decided to go against the advice of some of their own internal employees and continue to ignore the fact that these design features were unsafe in search of profit,” said Eisenstat, who also previously worked at Meta, then Facebook, before leaving the company in 2019. The measures outlined Wednesday at the very least show that there are technically-feasible options that can make the platform safer, she said — something whistleblowers and others have already “been saying very loudly.”
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Washington Times BusinessArturo Béjar, a former Meta engineering director, said during his testimony last week that Meta consistently prioritized 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.
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Instagram and Facebook's billions of users provide the company with a goldmine of data, and the data of adults can be used to sell ads.
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Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 CNBC The settlement announced on Wednesday with California Attorney General Rob Bonta and a bipartisan group of 51 AGs, including some from U.S. territories, leaves Meta exposed to ongoing litigation stemming from similar allegations and regulatory constraints that could follow.
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02 Bloomberg Meta Settlement a ‘Pittance,’ Law Professor Says Meta’s settlement is a “pittance” relative to the company’s profits, according to University of Virginia Law Professor Danielle Citron. She argues the bigger question is whether new protections for teenage Facebook and Instagram users will actually work, questioning a framework that relies heavily on parents to enforce limits and warning that teenagers may find ways around the restrictions. She joins Ed Ludlow on "Bloomberg Tech." (Source: Bloomberg)
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03 MarketWatch Tech Stocks Meta’s stock rises as the company settles case in social-media addiction trial
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04 New York Post Business Under the terms of the agreement, teens will be limited to two hours daily on Facebook and Instagram, combined, and be blocked from the platforms between midnight and 6 a.m., though messaging will still be available. Notifications will be silenced during school hours, and stronger age-detection systems will be implemented, along with certain default settings that restrict beauty filters and whether or not likes on a post are visible.
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05 Fortune Meta said the new safeguards will only apply in the United States, with most in place for 10 years.
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07 Washington Times Business “While this is a landmark settlement, Congress still needs to step up and regulate Big Tech,” said Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.
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08 BBC Business And if they ultimately set a precedent, other social media companies may be forced to take up the rules, too.
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