New Delhi — Meta Platforms has agreed to pay up to $16.68 billion to settle claims from U.S. states alleging that Facebook and Instagram were designed to be addictive to children, misled users about safety and improperly collected personal data from minors, according to court filings.
The agreement was reached during a federal trial in California involving claims brought by 29 states, ending one of the most closely watched legal challenges over the effects of social media on children and teenagers.
Under the settlement, Meta will also make changes to Facebook and Instagram for teenage users across the United States, including daily usage limits and restrictions on access during nighttime hours. The company denied wrongdoing and liability as part of the agreement.
Meta shares rose 4.4 percent in premarket trading following news of the settlement.
The case included allegations that Meta violated consumer protection laws in California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey. The states also accused the company of violating the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting personal information from users it knew were children without properly notifying or obtaining consent from their parents.
The states further alleged that Meta used children’s data to train machine learning and generative artificial intelligence models.
Meta has denied the allegations and said it has taken extensive steps to protect younger users. The company also argued that it could not have misled consumers by describing its services as addictive because “social media addiction” is not formally recognized as a psychiatric condition.
Before the trial, Meta said the four states involved in the proceeding were seeking as much as $1.4 trillion in penalties, although the states had indicated the amount could be closer to $200 billion. They were also seeking additional damages and court-ordered changes to Meta’s platforms, including measures that could have prevented children from creating accounts.
The settlement comes as Meta, Snap, YouTube parent Alphabet and TikTok parent ByteDance continue to face thousands of lawsuits alleging that their platforms were intentionally designed with features that encourage excessive use among children and teenagers. (Source: IANS)
