Summary:
According to Reuters, court documents show that as part of the settlement agreement,
Meta has agreed to pay up to $16.68 billion to resolve charges filed in multiple states across the United States
. The states accuse Meta of designing Facebook and Instagram to be addictive products for children, misleading consumers about the safety of the platforms and improperly collecting personal data from children who used its platforms.
The settlement was reached during a trial in federal court in California involving lawsuits filed by 29 states. The settlement prevents the high-profile case from going to trial and allows Meta to escape one of its biggest tests yet over accusations that the social media company harmed young users.
Meta also agreed to adopt a series of adjustments nationwide for teenage users of Facebook and Instagram, according to court documents, including setting daily usage limits and nighttime usage bans.
However, Meta denied any wrongdoing while agreeing to the settlement.
Meta said in a filing before the trial that California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey are seeking fines of up to $1.4 trillion. States had said before the trial began that the figure would be closer to $200 billion. The states are also asking Meta to pay additional monetary damages and ask the court to order Meta to make significant changes to its platform and ban children from creating accounts.
As of press time, Meta’s stock price rose 4.4% in pre-market trading on Wednesday.
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