Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has agreed to pay as much as $16.7 billion (roughly €14.3 billion) and to impose new limits on how teenagers use its social media sites as part of a lawsuit in California brought by a number of US states.
The settlement still requires court approval.
The proposal was filed in federal court on Wednesday and seeks to resolve claims from a coalition of 47 US states in total.
As well as the financial damages, it foresees Meta introducing various limitations and changes designed to improve child safety and discourage or prevent overuse and social media activity overnight or during school hours.
What did officials say about the settlement?
“Meta has agreed to make massive transformations that will reduce the risk of harm from its platforms — and will do it within months,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement as the settlement was announced.
He called the agreement “real change, real transparency, and real enforceable protections for children.”
The filing states that the agreement does not amount to any admission of liability or wrongdoing from Meta, which had consistently denied the allegations.
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones, however, argued that Meta had intentionally put young people’s health at risk and that the changes helped to stop this.
“For years, Meta intentionally deceived the public about the addictive and harmful design features that have wreaked havoc on youth mental health,” Jones said, arguing that the settlement “will put an end to these dangerous practices and deliver meaningful relief that will protect children from online harm.”
What changes does the settlement demand of Meta?
Meta is proposing a series of usage limitations for people under the age of 18, including a “hard cap” on the daily total time spent on their sites.
The cumulative all-day cap is to be set at 2 hours of daily use across Meta’s various platforms. Parents will be authorized to lift the restriction.
Beween midnight and 6 a.m., underage users will also be suspended from the sites.
During school hours, and between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., the apps will no longer send teen users notifications as push alerts on their devices.
The minimum age to open accounts on Facebook and Instagram in most US states is 13 (or higher in a few instances) so in theory for younger children there should be no issue. California’s attroney general said Meta would be required to institute additional measures designed to identify and remove younger users of its platforms.
California’s attorney general also said Meta would also be required to respond to 90% of teen reports on potentially harmful content within 6 hours. It said that Meta would be required to offer under-18s the option of a non-personalized feed.
This is a developing story, more to follow…
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