Meta reaches nearly $17 billion settlement over social media harms to children
Twenty-nine states accused the company of collecting minors’ data and designing Facebook and Instagram to be addictive for young users
Meta has reached a settlement of nearly $16.68 billion to address lawsuits from states alleging the company designed Facebook and Instagram to be addictive for children, misled consumers about safety, and improperly collected personal data from minors. The agreement, reached during a week-long federal trial in California, resolves claims brought by 29 states and avoids a potentially high-profile legal case alleging social media harms to young users.
In response, Meta will implement measures for teenage users such as a daily screen-time cap of two hours with parental consent to extend it, blocking access between midnight and 6 a.m. unless parents opt-in, and hiding "like" counts and notifications during school hours. The company will also strengthen content safeguards and provide extra tools for parents.
The settlement follows accusations that Meta violated federal COPPA regulations and misled consumers by portraying its platforms as safe while executives were aware of the risks. In a statement, Meta emphasized that teenage user safety is a top priority and that the settlement sets a new industry standard.
Written by urgent.news from El Pais English's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
