Meta reaches $16.68B settlement over social media harms to children

Meta has agreed to a settlement of $16.68 billion over claims that its platforms harmed children. According to Premium Times, the states had claimed that Meta was violating the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting children's personal data without parental notification or consent.

As part of the settlement, Meta has promised new child protection measures, including upgraded age detection features and expanded child safety guardrails on Facebook and Instagram, as reported by SiliconANGLE. The company will block users under 18 from accessing its social networks between midnight and 6 a.m. and roll out a cumulative usage limit of two hours per day across Facebook and Instagram.

There are varying reports on the guaranteed payout, with California Attorney General Rob Bonta citing $12.7 billion, the District of Columbia's attorney general, Brian Schwalb, citing $12.1 billion, and Connecticut Attorney General William Tong citing $12.19 billion, according to Fortune. The total settlement amount is reported as $18 billion by SiliconANGLE and TheCable, and $17.1 billion by Fortune.

Brief written by urgent.news from Premium Times, Winnipeg Free Press, SiliconANGLE, Fortune, TheCable — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.