Meta settles child-safety suit with 48 states for $18 billion
Meta is bringing TikTok and YouTube along for the ride, in an unusual proposal.
Meta has agreed to pay $18 billion to settle a lawsuit brought by 48 states claiming its social platforms are harming teenagers. It also agreed to set a two-hour daily time limit on Facebook and Instagram for users under 18.
The agreement halts a trial that got underway just a few days ago in Oakland, Calif., federal court.
There's a big "unless" in the agreement, however. Meta will pay only 70% of the settlement unless TikTok and YouTube agree to set one-hour time limits for underage users and pledge to pay the states roughly $5.3 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Meta also agreed to launch "night mode," which would block apps between midnight and 6 a.m. and a "school mode" that would disable "push" notifications during school hours.
James R. Hood
The settlement still needs to be approved by a federal judge. , halts a trial that was ongoing as recently as Tuesday. That case, brought by the state attorneys general of California, Kentucky, New Jersey and Colorado, alleged that Meta violated their states’ consumer-protection laws and also the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, commonly known as COPPA, by knowingly making its platforms addictive and going after young users.
The attorneys general had asked for about $200 in damages, nearly 200 times the $375 million the company was ordered to pay in a New Mexico case.
The AGs in that case had asked for roughly $200 billion in damages, more than 200 times the amount that Meta was recently ordered to pay after losing a similar child-safety trial in New Mexico.
In that case, brought by New Mexico’s attorney general, Meta was ordered to pay $375 million in civil penalties, create a $567 million abatement fund to rectify harms toward New Mexico youth and make changes to its apps similar to those in the settlement, including limiting when it can send push notifications to users under 18.
Meta still faces a staggering number of similar lawsuits in courthouses across the country.
