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Meta agreed to pay up to $17 billion and make changes to its Facebook and Instagram platforms as part of a landmark settlement to resolve a child safety lawsuit that involved California and other states.
The proposed settlement, which still needs approval and would be the largest legal action against the tech titan, cuts short a high-profile trial that started a little more than a week ago in a federal court in California.
It’s the latest example of how the world’s largest social media giant is grappling with legal challenges that seek to hold the company accountable for allegedly harming children.
California was among dozens of states that sued Meta in 2023, alleging in a lawsuit that the social media giant intentionally designed harmful and addictive features to hook children while misleading the public about the dangers. Some of the harms included depression, anxiety, addiction and body image issues as young people compare themselves to others on social media.
The states accused Meta of violating state consumer protection laws and a federal law that protects the online privacy of children under13.
“This is momentous. This is a major step forward in the ongoing quest and journey to make sure that our children are safe everywhere, including online,” said California Atty. General Rob Bonta in a press conference on Wednesday morning.
As part of the proposed settlement to settle claims filed by 47 states, California would receive between $1.5 billion to $2.1 billion. The California governor and legislature would decide how most of that money will be spent, Bonta said, but it will be used to address child safety on social media.
While Bonta called the settlement amount “historically high,” he said the major focus is on the changes that Meta agreed to make to its platforms so they’re safer for children.
Among several solutions such as time limits and muting notifications during certain hours, the changes include giving teens the option to choose to view a non-algorithmic social media feed that isn’t personalized. Social media platforms show people videos and other content they might be interested in viewing, keeping them scrolling online for hours.
Meta said it would also give teens the ability to not play content automatically, hide likes and reactions and block teens from using extreme makeup filters, which can potentially harm a person’s self-esteem.
The settlement also includes solutions that would only kick in if Meta’s rivals such as YouTube and TikTok also implemented similar measures.
“Because teens move fluidly across dozens of apps, we need an industry-wide solution. We therefore call on our industry peers, TikTok, Snap, and YouTube, to implement this new framework, right away,” Meta’s Chief Legal Officer C.J. Mahoney, said in a statement.
TikTok, YouTube and Snap didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
