Meta has reached an out-of-court settlement of up to $16.68 billion to settle allegations that it designed Facebook and Instagram to addict children and teenagers. The agreement, reported by Reuters And Bloombergalso includes major changes to the platforms used by younger users.
The agreement has been reached with 29 US states and will still have to be approved by a federal judge in Oakland, California. If ratified, it will put an end to one of the most significant trials ever held in the United States on the possible harm caused by social media to minors.
The accusations against Mark Zuckerberg’s company
Authorities accused the Menlo Park group of deceiving consumers about the safety of its services and of unauthorizedly collecting personal data from users it knew were children. According to the States, this information was also used to train machine learning and generative artificial intelligence models, without informing parents or obtaining their consent.
The complaints also concerned the way in which Facebook and Instagram would be configured to increase the time spent on the platforms and encourage compulsive use. Meta has always denied the accusations and, even accepting the agreement, did not admit any responsibility. The company argued that it could not mislead users about its services’ alleged ability to be addictive, as “social media addiction” is not recognized as a specific psychiatric condition.
Daily limits and overnight restrictions
In addition to payment, Meta has committed to significantly changing the configuration of products aimed at younger people. For minors, daily limits on the use of Facebook and Instagram and restrictions at night will be introduced. Systems that prevent children from accessing content reserved for older users will also need to be strengthened.
The settlement also closes some lawsuits brought by California, Illinois, New Mexico and the District of Columbia over privacy violations related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The consultancy firm had collected the personal data of millions of Facebook users. For this part of the litigation, the states will receive a total of $459.3 million.
As he points out Reuters The Oakland case included challenges brought by California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey alleging violations of their respective consumer laws, as well as challenges to the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act from 29 states.
Before the trial began on August 18, Meta said the four states could seek penalties of up to $1.4 trillion. According to the authorities, however, the potential figure would have been closer to 200 billion. The agreement now prevents the court from ruling on the charges.
The case is part of a larger wave of legal actions brought across the United States by state and local governments, school districts and individual citizens. At the center of the appeals is the accusation leveled at Meta and other large platforms of having contributed to the mental health crisis affecting children and adolescents. Following news of the agreement, the company’s shares rose 2.3 percent in early trading.