Tech giant Meta has agreed to pay up to $18 billion (£13.2 billion) over a 10-year period to resolve a high-profile legal battle brought by 29 United States states accusing the company of harming children through its platforms.
The agreement ends a trial in Oakland, California, that stemmed from a 2023 lawsuit alleging that Meta violated federal and state child privacy laws, including the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. Prosecutors argued that the owner of Facebook and Instagram deliberately engineered its platforms to be addictive to minors using features like autoplay videos and disappearing stories, while misleadinng the public about product safety and improperly gathering children’s data.
Although Meta has maintained its innocence and denied any liability, the firm agreed to sweeping changes across its platforms nationwide. The company expects to record a legal expense of roughly $10 billion (£7.3 billion) in the third quarter of this year related to the deal.
Under the agreed terms, Meta will introduce default two-hour daily time limits and a nighttime access block between midnight and 06:00 for users under 18, both of which can only be altered by a parent.
The company will also enforce default notification silences during school hours and overnight, hide like counts and reactions for minor accounts, disable automatic video playback, ban appearance-altering cosmetic procedure filters, and provide non-personalized feed options.
Furthermore, Meta must implement robust age verification to detect minors and purge accounts belonging to children under 13, while submitting to an independent auditor.
Washington DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb described the outcome as a major victory for the public.
“Meta intentionally exploited kids for profit and then lied about it, claiming its products were safe when its own internal research confirmed the platforms were addictive and harmful,” Schwalb said. “The safety features Meta is required to install will fundamentally and immediately change how young people use Instagram and Facebook.”
Meta welcomed the agreement as an important step toward setting an industry standard, noting that the settlement builds on its efforts to support families. However, the company pointedly called on competitors to follow suit.
“Ensuring teens have a safe and productive experience on our platforms is an absolute imperative for Meta. We want to get this right for parents and teens,” the company stated, adding: “We know that when teens are restricted on one app, they simply move to another.”
Participating states will receive 70 percent of the funds, roughly $12.7 billion (£9.3 billion), over the next decade. The remaining 30 percent will only be released if video platforms YouTube and TikTok adopt identical safety measures—including a one-hour daily cap, night modes, and age verification—and match the remaining financial commitment.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
