Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has agreed to pay up to 16.68 billion dollars to settle lawsuits filed by a bipartisan coalition of 52 attorneys general from states, territories, and the District of Columbia in the United States, thereby avoiding a trial over children's addiction to its social networks, according to a court document published this Wednesday.
Authorities accused the company of designing its social media to create addiction among minors and deceiving consumers about the safety of its platforms, in addition to collecting data from children in violation of the federal children’s privacy law COPPA, a report from the EFE agency noted.
The agreement with Meta puts an end to a federal lawsuit taking place in Oakland, California, which consolidated the claims of 29 states. The proceedings began on August 18, with California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey as the main litigating states.
Meta agreed to the settlement to avoid prolonging the litigation, but denies the accusations and any responsibility.
The financial structure of the pact is complex. Approximately 70% of the amount —around 12.7 billion dollars— will be distributed among the participating states in annual payments over 10 years, aimed at funding online youth safety initiatives and mental health programs.
The remaining 30% —around 5.3 billion— is conditional: it will only be released if TikTok and YouTube implement equivalent safety measures for minors and contribute similar amounts. Thus, the total figure could reach 18 billion dollars, according to the official statement from Meta.
Along with the payment, the company committed to implementing a range of protections for users under 18 on Instagram and Facebook, which must be maintained for at least 10 years.
Among the measures are a daily limit of two hours of cumulative use —which can only be disabled with parental permission—, a nighttime app lock from midnight to six in the morning, silencing of notifications during school hours, mandatory alerts after 15, 60, and 90 minutes of continuous use, default hiding of the "likes" counter, and blocking of filters for cosmetic surgery and extreme makeup.
Meta also released an open letter urging TikTok and YouTube to adopt the same measures, arguing that "these protections will only be truly effective if we work with our peers to implement the same measures."
The announcement came a day after Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, testified at the trial in California.
In his statement, Mosseri acknowledged that some protection measures for minors had had an impact "much smaller than we expected." It was anticipated that the CEO Mark Zuckerberg would also testify before the agreement was finalized.
The agreement excludes New Mexico and Florida, which have separate lawsuits against the company. Additionally, it still requires a judge's approval to be finalized.
After the announcement, Meta's shares rose more than 3% on Wall Street, a sign that the markets viewed the agreement as a favorable resolution for the company after years of legal uncertainty.
The case has its roots in 2023, when the coalition of attorneys first filed the lawsuits, transforming this agreement into the largest out-of-court settlement in U.S. history related to social media harms to minors.
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