(WND)—Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has agreed to pay nearly $17 billion to settle claims its allegedly addictive social media platforms harmed children’s health.
The agreement is expected to end an ongoing federal trial.
CNBC reports: “The settlement was revealed a court filing released Wednesday that details several requirements Meta must make to its apps as part of a proposed ‘consent judgement.’ These include daily usage limits and ‘nighttime blocks’ for teenagers that use the company’s apps like Facebook and Instagram, ‘enhanced age assurance measures’ that would prevent children from using the apps, and making additional tools for parents and guardians.
“As part of the settlement, Meta agreed to pay nearly $17 billion, according to an announcement by California attorney general Rob Bonta. Shares of the social media giant gained 5% during premarket trading after the news broke. Upon the court officially deems ‘Final Judgment,’ all parties ‘waive’ their rights to appeal, the legal filing said.”
“The settlement comes amid the second week of the trial, taking place at Oakland federal courthouse, co-led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the AGs from Colorado, New Jersey and Kentucky, who represent a bipartisan group of 29 AGs in a combined case stemming from a 2023 lawsuit.”
“This is seismic,” said George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley reacting to the deal on Fox News.
“It’s gonna be something of a dinner gong for both states and plaintiff attorneys and I think that Meta knows that. But in many ways for the company, this is still chump change.”
“This is a company that makes a huge amount of money,” he continued. “These companies don’t actually end up losing money because of the benefits in the market in resolving litigation. Their stock tends to go up and they’re able to cover these losses.”
“This a a calculated move by Meta which has been saying it’s trying to reform these apps to try to create these new barriers for children and I think they view this as a better way of going forward.”
“There is a commitment here to change the app, to change the software to create better protections.”
“Legally, they had some very good arguments to make here. The line between what’s an addictive and what’s a popular product is often hard to define. They could have litigated this. But it would have cost them a lot of money.
“I’m not dismissing the importance of the lawsuit, but for a company the size of Meta, it’s like Monopoly money, maybe literally so, according to some critics. They made this amount of money like just a minute ago.”
