Meta has agreed to a settlement worth up to $16.68 billion after 29 US states accused Facebook and Instagram of being designed to keep children hooked, misleading users about safety and collecting children’s personal data. The deal also forces the company to make changes to how young people use its platforms.
Meta has agreed to pay up to $16.68 billion and make sweeping changes to Facebook and Instagram. The move resolves a massive, coordinated lawsuit from 29 U.S. states and completely averts a high-profile federal trial that was set to begin in Oakland, California.
The terms are strict. Meta must now impose daily usage limits and restrict nighttime access for children on its platforms. It also has to build stronger walls to keep kids away from age-restricted content.
Despite the massive payout, the Menlo Park-based company officially denies any wrongdoing.
For a long time, Meta’s defense rested on a simple, technical argument: “social media addiction” is not a recognized psychiatric condition. Therefore, they argued, they could not have misled the public about it.
But the legal ground has been shifting beneath their feet.
Earlier this year, a jury in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay hundreds of millions after finding it misled consumers about platform safety. A judge later ruled the company had created a public nuisance. In a separate case, a Los Angeles jury held Meta and Google liable for a teenager’s severe depression and anxiety.
This new settlement also quietly wraps up older privacy claims tied to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, adding another $459.3 million to the tab for states like California and Illinois.
SEE ALSO: 29 states are suing Meta over Instagram and Facebook
The courtroom doors in Oakland will now stay closed.
The money will change hands, and the nighttime blocks will eventually go live. But for the families who spent years watching their kids struggle with the very real fallout of these platforms, a financial settlement does not erase the time already lost.
Promise Idoko is a tech analyst and writer at Moderncrux, specializing in artificial intelligence, fintech, and emerging technologies. Based in Nigeria, he is dedicated to delivering insightful and accessible coverage of complex technological developments. His work explores the impact of innovation on businesses, industries, and societies, with a particular focus on Africa’s evolving technology landscape and its connection to global trends.
