Meta, US attorneys general reach multibillion dollar settlement to end social media addiction trial

Meta and a coalition of dozens of U.S. state attorneys general reached a landmark multibillion settlement that is subject to court approval over claims the Big Tech company endangered children with addictive designs in its platform. The states announced Meta agreed to financial penalties of up to USD17.1 billion for violating state consumer protection and federal child privacy laws. As a result, the company must also implement a number of changes to restrict children's access to Instagram and Facebook.

"Today, we have secured a settlement with Meta that will make social media less dangerous for our kids and make a world of difference for children and their families," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. "Meta has agreed to make massive transformations that will reduce the risk of harm from it's platforms — and will do it within months."

Bonta's announcement stated, "the company designed and deployed harmful features on Instagram and Facebook that drive compulsive use by children and teens to their mental and physical detriment, all the while misleading users, their families, and the public regarding the existence and severity of these risks." 

The injunctive terms are widespread, including a default daily time limit for users under age 18, which can only be lifted by a parent; a nighttime block from midnight to 6 a.m.; default blocks on notifications from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. during the school day from 15 Aug. to 15 June; an "enhanced mechanism" for teens to report harmful content that Meta must respond to within six hours; a ban on displaying the number of likes or reactions to a post; a ban on "cosmetic image filters;" an option for users under 18 to have a "non-personalized feed;" and a "commitment from Meta to maintain, review, and improve existing teen content safety measures."

In Meta's statement, Chief Legal Officer C.J. Mahoney said, "The framework we've negotiated will empower parents to easily manage how their children access our platforms."

Meta calls on industry to join its remedial efforts

In conjunction with the settlement, Meta released an open letter to TikTok and YouTube to implement similar restrictions. "We want to ensure teens benefit from this new industry standard, but we cannot do it alone. These protections will only be truly effective if we work with our peers — TikTok and YouTube — to put the same measures in place," the letter states. 

Portions of the settlement will depend on adoption by the other two companies. According to Meta, 30% of the settlement — approximately USD5.3 billion — will be released if two conditions are met. YouTube and TikTok must implement a "one-hour Daily Limit, Night Mode, and age assurance measures;" and they must "each pay an amount matching the 30% figure, with half of the remaining funds tied to YouTube's payment and half tied to TikTok's." 

The settlement will also "establish an independent social media research foundation," Meta states, and it will "share consented user data with the foundation to advance independent research into teen well-being and grow our collective understanding of how to best support teens online." 

An independent auditor will assess Meta's compliance for the next five years. 

In the courtroom

The trial started 18 Aug. in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and was originally filed in 2023 under claims the addictive design measures and other allegations violated the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, California's False Advertising Law and California's Unfair Competition Law. The agreement also halts a trial brought by Tennessee's attorney general. 

Bloomberg first reported negotiations between Meta and state attorneys general commenced Tuesday evening. According to Politico, the settlement also could affect the outcome of hundreds of other pending lawsuits alleging Meta, Snap, TikTok and Google designed similarly addictive platforms. 

Earlier this year, a jury in Los Angeles found Meta and Google liable for teen addiction, and earlier this month, a federal court in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay USD1 billion in penalties for child endangerment.