Meta has agreed to an $18bn settlement with US states and territories, following a trial that concluded last week. The settlement, to be shared among the states and territories that brought the case, will be paid over 10 years.
The agreement includes new child safety measures for Meta's platforms. Safety features will become opt-out rather than opt-in, and parents will be able to adjust settings to prevent personalised, algorithmically driven content from appearing in young people's feeds. Other changes include a new two-hour daily limit, blocks on night-time use, and disabled notifications during school hours, supported by compulsory age verification. Harmful "social comparison" features, such as cosmetic surgery image filters, are also set to be disabled.
Meta's decision to settle allowed the company to avoid admitting liability and halted further questioning of witnesses, including Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri, and claims from whistleblowers such as former Meta safety engineer Arturo Béjar.