$12.7 billion goes to online safety initiatives, and billions more if chief competitors YouTube and TikTok fall into line
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Remember that massive lawsuit against Meta alleging that its products were designed to addict teens and may have caused them mental harm? Backed by dozens of US States, the potential $1.4 trillion price tag — if Meta lost — would have been enough to bankrupt the company.
That case is now over. Settled for the princely sum of $18 billion and promised fundamental changes in how Meta's major products, namely Instagram and Facebook, operate when used by anyone under 18. I'll get to the proposed changes below (which Meta would like to see YouTube and TikTok adopt, too), but first let's talk about the stunning turn of events.
We were in week two of the big trial, and honestly, we were just getting to the good part. After the states initially presented their case and made it clear they believed Meta knew its products might be harming teens and wasn't doing anything about it, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri took the stand and was peppered with questions about the platform's current controls, like its prompts imploring teens to "take a break." The focus was so intense that the normally polished Mosseri appeared "annoyed." He also admitted that there are "no silver bullets" for safety.
On Wednesday (August 26), we were, it appeared, only hours away from the big show: Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg taking the stand. I expected the prosecution to press him hard to see if they could trigger a slip-up or some reaction from the normally unflappable Zuckerberg.
Now, that moment will never come. Without admitting any wrongdoing or fault, Meta has closed the potentially business-killing or at least hobbling case.
Here's a look, though, at what Meta has agreed to in the settlement[PDF]. On the surface, it will sound like a lot. In fact, the changes are so sweeping that some on social media wondered if they could or should be applied to everyone on the platform.
There are caveats: the two-hour time limit applies across Instagram and Facebook, though how much time does a kid under 18 spend on Facebook?
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Likes removal includes any information that could lead to social comparison — essentially a FOMO filter.
Some of the changes, like age verification, parental controls, and content safeguards, represent strengthening and broadening of existing controls.
Meta has rolled out a whole suite of parental controls, especially on Instagram, in the last two years, but as Mosseri noted, not everything is working.
When I posted the above list on social media, one savvy reader made a salient point.
Sadly, that needs at least these assumptions to hold:
