Meta agrees to $18B settlement, enhances child safety measures

Meta Platforms will pay up to approximately $18 billion over the next decade and implement sweeping child safety reforms on Facebook and Instagram, ending a multistate legal battle that alleged the company deliberately engineered addictive features targeting young users. A federal judge in Oakland, California approved the terms on August 26, bringing to a close a trial that had begun just eight days earlier. The settlement resolves claims brought by 47 states, the District of Columbia, and US territories, making it one of the largest individual-company consumer protection agreements in American history. The money and how it breaks down The primary portion of the settlement lands between $16.7 billion and $17.1 billion, covering the coalition of states and territories that filed suit. Texas negotiated its own separate $1 billion deal. Roughly 70% of the total payout, about $12.7 billion, is earmarked for state-led youth online safety initiatives over the next ten years. The remaining $5.3 billion is contingent on whether competitors like YouTube and TikTok comply with similar safety standards. The original claims sought up to $200 billion in penalties, and broader demands at one poi...