Meta has agreed to a $17.1billion (£12.6billion) settlement and new restrictions for teenage Facebook and Instagram users after a landmark US trial.
California and 28 other states had brought the case against Meta, the technology company that owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, alleging that they had deliberately incorporated addictive features into its platforms.
The suit also claimed that Meta had misled users about their safety and unlawfully collected data belonging to children under 13 without parental permission.
The jury trial started in Oakland, California last week and had been expected to last for six weeks, but the landmark agreement was announced today (August 26).
Under the terms of the settlement, Meta will pay at least $12.1billion (£8.9billion) over the next decade, while a further £5billion could be added if competitors such as TikTok and YouTube adopt similar safeguards and make related payments.
Meta had denied the allegations in the lawsuit throughout the proceedings and the settlement does not include an admission of wrongdoing.
The agreement also requires Meta to bring about a number of changes to Facebook and Instagram for accounts belonging to users under 18. There will be two-hour daily limits across the two platforms for teenagers, with pauses and reminders to appear after 15 minutes of continuous use and after 60 and 90 minutes of total use.
Both apps will also be blocked for users under 18 between midnight and 6am, unless parents or guardians intervene, while notifications will be silenced between 10pm and 7am. Notifications will also be blocked between 8am and 3pm on school days.
Meta will also be required to offer teenagers a non-personalised, chronological feed, like counts will be hidden by default and filters simulating extreme cosmetic procedures will be made unavailable.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has said the settlement “will make social media less dangerous for our kids and make a world of difference for children and their families”.
“Meta has agreed to make massive transformations that will reduce the risk of harm from its platforms — and will do it within months”.
“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,” he added.
Washington DC attorney general Brian Schwalb added: “This is a monumental public health victory for young people in DC and across the country.”
Meta, meanwhile, said: “Ensuring teens have a safe and productive experience on our platforms is an absolute imperative for Meta.”
The company has also called on its rivals to introduce similar measures, arguing that young people could simply transfer their time to other apps if safeguards were not in place there.
Earlier this month, a court in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay $942million (£690million) and change its protections for children after finding it had failed to prevent child sexual exploitation on Facebook and Instagram. Meta said it intended to appeal the decision.
The upcoming film The Social Reckoning, a follow-up to 2010’s The Social Network, will dramatise the Facebook Files, in which whistleblower Frances Haugen released thousands of Facebook documents and accused them of prioritising growth and profit over user safety.
Like The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin has written The Social Reckoning and will direct this time around. Jeremy Strong will portray Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, alongside Mikey Madison as Haugen and Jeremy Allen White as journalist Jeff Horwitz. It will be in cinemas on October 9.
