Facebook and Instagram owner Meta has agreed to pay up to $18bn (£13.24bn) to settle claims brought by 29 US states that its platforms harmed children.
According to the attorney general of California - one of the states that was suing the company - the settlement includes a range of measures aimed at protecting users under 18.
These include:
- A default daily time limit of two hours for users under 18 that can only be lifted by a parent
- A default nighttime block between midnight and 06:00 for users under 18 that can only be lifted by a parent
- Default blocks on notifications to users under 18 from 22:00 to 07:00 and during the school day
- An enhanced mechanism for teens to report potentially harmful content and a requirement that Meta respond to 90% of those reports within six hours
- A ban on displaying numbers of likes or reactions to users under 18
- A ban on cosmetic procedure image filters for users under 18
- An option for users under 18 to have a non-personalised feed
- A commitment to enhance parent supervision tools
In terms of implementation, Meta has agreed to institute robust age assurance measures to detect users under 18, as well as measures to identify and remove under 13s.
It will also use an independent auditor with expansive access to information and resources and be subject to an injunction prohibiting it from making "further false, misleading, or deceptive statements around its safety features".
However, the changes are not as cut and dry as they might appear.
One of the agreements was for videos to not play automatically, while a new default setting will mean the things teens see are not tailored to the viewer.
In both cases, however, these are options teens can turn on and off - with the caveat that parents can adjust their child's account to take control of the features.
By default, teens will not see the number of likes and reactions on posts, which will likely require some work behind the scenes from Meta to make possible.
The headline features - a default two-hour daily time limit for teens and a block from midnight to 06:00 - raise the biggest questions.
Will the app stop opening? Will it display a blank screen? Will it be a text box which reads “try again later”?
Right now, the only thing we know for sure is these changes are coming.
Meta says it has agreed to a payment of approximately $18bn (£13.2bn), distributed in annual instalments over a 10-year period.
Attorneys general from a number of US states reacting to the settlement have been citing a figure of up to $17.1bn (£12.57bn) to be paid by Meta.
Meta says the money can be used to "fund youth online safety initiatives, among other state priorities".
States that participated in the lawsuit will receive approximately 70%, about $12.7bn (£9.3bn), of the funds over the decade. The remaining 30% will be released only after two specific conditions are met.
Those are if:
- YouTube and TikTok - not owned by Meta - implement a one-hour daily limit, night mode, and age assurance measures
- YouTube and TikTok each pay an amount matching the 30% figure, with half of the remaining funds tied to YouTube’s payment and half tied to TikTok’s
Meta also says it expects to accrue a legal expense of approximately $10bn (£7.3bn) in the third quarter of this year related to the agreement.
"The agreement is designed to drive industry-wide adoption, ensuring teens receive consistent protections across the apps they use most, like YouTube and TikTok," it says.
The majority of the terms agreed as part of the settlement will remain in place for 10 years, Meta says.
But some of the most noticeable changes - the daily time limit for children and night-time restrictions - will only last for five years unless "industry peers" agree to take similar steps.
Meta has fought hard, over multiple lawsuits spanning many months and at great expense, to maintain that it is a company committed to protecting children on its platforms.
Its social networks are a fundamental part of its business: its billions of users provide it with a goldmine of data that it can both use to sell ads and also train its AI products.
It may appear laser-focused on AI right now but, make no mistake, it still needs its social media arm to bring in the money.
While today’s settlement does not admit any wrongdoing, it is clear that the company suddenly decided a deal was worth doing.
It’s been a tough few days in court, with numerous evidence presented which suggested that in the past the bosses knew harmful stuff was happening on the platforms and did not take action.
One exec said he did not remember writing in a slide deck that sometimes Meta chose to pay fines for regulatory violations rather than make changes, or do the bare minimum in order to comply.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta says the settlement "will make social media less dangerous for our kids and make a world of a 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," Bonta says.
He mentions time limits, stopping notifications during school, a block on the app during critical overnight hours, and a ban on plastic surgery filters.
"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 adds.
Another theme coming out of the settlement is Meta calling on other companies to do their part.
While it agreed to strengthen the tech it uses to estimate whether accounts are being used by teens, the tech giant said it wanted app stores to provide it with “verified age information”.
In other words, Meta wants Apple and Google to check the age of people first and share that information. This is nothing new.
Three years ago, I reported on Meta calling for the introduction of laws which would put the onus on the app stores, not social media companies.
Whether that pressure worked or not is unclear. But in the UK at least, Apple and Google have brought in age checks.
Meta argues that the new default limits it is now introducing to its teen accounts as part of the settlement will only help young people if other apps adopt them too.
It has to hope that its fierce rivals will decide to collaborate, even though it hasn’t always been collegiate itself.
But given the growing backlash against social networks around the world, perhaps they will have to.
What we do and don't know about Meta's settlement
We know:
Facebook and Instagram owner Meta will pay up to $18bn (£13.2bn) to settle claims brought by 29 US states that its platforms harmed children
It stemmed from a lawsuit filed in 2023, which claimed numerous violations of federal and state privacy laws for children
Meta has agreed to set a default daily time limit of two hours for users under 18, among other measures - but it denies any wrongdoing
It is calling on TikTok and YouTube to put the same measures in place. The majority of changes will remain in place for 10 years - but some of the most noticeable changes like the daily time limit for children will only last for five years unless "industry peers" agree to take similar steps
What we don't know:
- When the changes will be implemented
- How fellow social media sites TikTok and YouTube will respond
