Onlykashmir.in News Desk
Social media giant Meta has agreed to pay approximately $18 billion to a coalition of US states to settle lawsuits alleging the company deliberately designed Facebook and Instagram to addict children, in a settlement reached on August 26 that also commits the tech giant to sweeping new restrictions on how teenagers can use its platforms.
The settlement brought an end to a trial in California centred on claims that Meta engineered its platforms to hook young users while misleading the public about the risks involved. The lawsuit, filed by 29 states, alleged that the company contributed to a broader youth mental health crisis by deliberately building addictive features into its platforms and concealing their effects from the public. The case also argued that Meta violated federal law by unlawfully collecting data on children under the age of 13 without parental consent.
Under the terms of the settlement, Meta has agreed to restrict teenagers’ use of Facebook and Instagram to two hours a day over the next decade and block all usage between midnight and 6 am, unless parental consent is obtained. The company will also disable most push notifications for teenage users during school hours, between 8 am and 3 pm, and strengthen safeguards aimed at preventing children from accessing age-restricted content.
A total of 51 states and territories, along with Washington D.C., initially reached a settlement with Meta, with Texas concluding a separate agreement that pushed the overall payout to roughly $18 billion. The scale of the settlement marks one of the largest of its kind involving a major technology company and youth safety concerns to date.
Reacting to the development, European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier said on August 27 that the European Union expects Meta to address the “addictive design” of its platforms in Europe as well, following the company’s agreement to sweeping usage limits for teenagers in the United States. The remarks signal that regulatory pressure on Meta over youth safety could extend well beyond American borders in the coming months.
