Meta Settles Landmark Social Media Addiction Case For $17 Billion, Enhanced Protections For Teens
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and coalition of 51 attorneys general unveiled a proposed settlement with giant Meta — parent of Facebook and Instagram — for up to $17 billion along with remedies designed to help protect teens from alleged mental health harms associated with social media use, the crux of the landmark lawsuit, including bans and blocks on features
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The settlement, subject to court approval, is a win for the California AG as he pursues a number of high-profile cases including an antitrust suit to block the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery. Settlement talks in that litigation appear to have stalled after Bonta canceled a session scheduled for Monday.
The Meta trial began August 18 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California with the AGs alleging, among other things, that the company designed and deployed harmful features on Instagram and Facebook that drive compulsive use by children and teens to their mental and physical detriment, all the while misleading users, their families and the public regarding the existence and severity of these risks.
Bonta’s office said in a statement that Wednesday’s settlement “provides for strong injunctive terms designed to help protect children from the mental health harms associated with social media, including default daily time limits on social media and a block on overnight use that can only be lifted by a parent, enhanced parental supervision tools, robust age assurance measures to detect users under 18 and children under 13 that are on the platform, and the appointment of an independent auditor to oversee compliance.”
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The settlement calls for monetary payment of up to $17 billion to the states over 10 years. California would receive $1.5 billion to $2.1 billion at the max payout. However, the base settlement amount is around $12 billion, rising to $17 billion only if other major social media platforms adopt the time management obligations laid out in the list of Meta’s remedies and agree to financial penalties. It’s not clear how that will play out.
“Mostly, what needs to be done is getting similar protections across the industry with TikTok, with YouTube, with Snap. Meta is a major player … But there are others that need to follow suit. And again, we’re we’re happy to talk in the in the boardroom to get to those results, or we can see folks in the courtroom as well,” Bonta said at a press conference after the settlement news. “My hope and my belief is that we will see commitments across the industry.”
He called the cash portion “a secondary but important component of the settlement. We have always been focused on, we will always be focused on the injunctive relief, the changes in business conduct.”
“Today, we have secured a settlement with Meta that will make social media less dangerous for our kids and make a world of a difference for children and their families,” said Bonta. “Meta has agreed to make massive transformations that will reduce the risk of harm from its platforms — and will do it within months. We are talking about time limits, stopping notifications during school, a block on the app during critical overnight hours, bans on plastic surgery filters, and so much more. Alongside a bipartisan coalition of my colleagues, I am proud to deliver this settlement that addresses the concerns at the core of our lawsuit and institutes real change, real transparency, and real enforceable protections for children on Facebook and Instagram — right now, no more waiting.”
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Meta has defended its child-safety practices and denied the accusations in the case. Instagram head Adam Mosseri, the first executive to take the stand in the trial, testified Tuesday that there were “no silver bullets for problems like this” and said he does not encourage his team “to hide anything.” Mosseri was grilled by prosecutors for a misleading blog post on the uptake of a feature reminding young users to take breaks. He had been scheduled to return to the witness stand Wednesday.
Meta’s Chief Legal Officer C.J. Mahoney said the company is “pleased to have reached the agreement” but that it “will only work if all our peers join us. Because teens move fluidly across dozens of apps.” He urged TikTok and YouTube to implement the same framework.
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Features built into the settlement include:
- A default daily time limit of two hours for users under 18 that can only be lifted by a parent. If other social media platforms agree to similar terms, the daily time limit will drop to one hour.
- A default nighttime block between midnight and 6 a.m. for users under 18 that can only be lifted by a parent. If other social media platforms agree to similar terms, the nighttime block will expand to cover 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
- Default blocks on notifications to users under 18 from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. and during the school day (8 a.m. to 3 p.m. from August 15 to June 15.)
- An enhanced mechanism for teens to report potentially harmful content and a requirement that Meta respond to 90% of those reports within six hours.
- A ban on displaying numbers of likes or reactions to users under 18.
- A ban on cosmetic procedure image filters for users under 18.
- An option for users under 18 to have a non-personalized feed, meaning a feed that doesn’t use an algorithm to target them with content aimed to keep them endlessly scrolling.
- A commitment from Meta to maintain, review and improve existing teen content safety measures.
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The company also be required to maintain other protections. For example:
- Meta has agreed will to maintain, review and improve existing teen content safety measures and will create enhanced parent supervision tools.
- Meta will institute robust age assurance measures to detect users under 18, as well as measures to identify and remove kids under 13 from their platforms.
- Meta will bring on an independent auditor with expansive access to information and resources, regular reporting and the right to communicate concerns to the attorneys general.
- Meta will be subject to an injunction prohibiting it from making further false, misleading, or deceptive statements around its safety features.
Bonta said that pending approval by the Legislature and governor, the settlement will be earmarked for purposes related to the prevention or remediation of mental health or other harms to young Californians associated with social media use.
This case and others against social media platforms are being compared to litigation in the 1990s against cigarette makers for intentionally addicting smokers and concealing risk that they were aware of.
Meta was facing the prospect of truly massive damages in the California case with some speculating that the ultimate number could have gone as high as $200 billion. The settlement follows a loss by the Mark Zuckerberg-owned and -led company in New Mexico, where it was fined $567 million after ruling earlier this month.
A Los Angeles jury earlier found Meta guilty of addicting one young user, with damages of $4.2 million.
Late last week, the U.S. Department of Justice secured a $400 million settlement from TikTok to resolve litigation over collection of children’s personal information in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
Meta shares took a tumble at market open just after the settlement was announced but recovered and are currently trading up about 3% at $587. The company said it expects to accrue $10 billion in legal costs in the current third quarter.