Meta to Pay $18B for Child Safety Changes on Facebook, Instagram
Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion in a lawsuit filed by US states regarding the protection of children from social media. Plaintiffs alleged that the company violated numerous federal and state laws concerning child protection.
Consensus
- Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion to settle a lawsuit from 29 U.S. state attorneys general.
- The lawsuit alleged that Meta's social media platforms were designed to cause addiction in minors and harm their mental health.
- Meta will implement restrictions for users under 18 on Facebook and Instagram, including time limits, nighttime access blocks, and parental controls.
- Meta did not admit to wrongdoing in the agreement.
- The agreement requires Meta to improve age verification tools and limit access to features like like counts and beauty filters for minors.
- The settlement must be approved by a federal judge to take effect.
- The funds will be used to support state-level initiatives for youth online safety.
- Meta will receive a bonus payment of $5.3 billion if TikTok and YouTube also implement similar child safety measures.
Points of divergence
- The maximum payment under the agreement is $16.68 billion. — vedomosti
- Meta was found guilty by a jury in a separate private case for causing harm to young users. — thebell
- Meta will pay $12 billion regardless, with an additional $5 billion contingent on other platforms complying. — komersant
- California will receive between $1.5 and $2.1 billion from the settlement. — fontanka
- Meta will allow parents to disable the two-hour daily limit. — tg_varlamov_news
- Meta also settled separate cases related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, receiving $459.3 million. — vedomosti
- The lawsuit sought $1.4 trillion in damages. — meduza
Coverage (7 sources)
- Meta to pay up to $18 billion and impose restrictions on underage users of Instagram and Facebook and... — Varlamov News
- Meta will change the work of Instagram and Facebook due to lawsuits about harm to children — Ведомости
- Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion in lawsuit by US states over protecting children from social media — BBC News Русская служба
- Meta agreed to pay a large fine in a case about children's addiction — The Bell
- Banned Meta will pay $17 billion in case of harm of social networks to teenagers — Коммерсантъ
- Meta agreed to change how Facebook and Instagram work for teens in lawsuit from 29 US states — Meduza
- Meta* agreed to pay about $18 billion in lawsuits regarding addiction to social networks — Фонтанка