Meta Reaches $18 Billion Settlement With 48 States Over Child-Safety Claims

Meta Platforms agreed to an $18 billion settlement with 48 state attorneys general, bringing an end to a massive federal trial over social media’s harm to teenagers and ushering in a new era of tech companies having legal responsibility for their platforms. As part of the settlement agreement, Meta will also make sweeping changes to its services, Facebook and Instagram, including implementing a default two-hour time limit on its apps for users under 18.  In a unique setup, Meta will pay out only 70 percent of the settlement unless TikTok and YouTube, which is owned by Alphabet, also agree to set default one-hour time limits a day on their apps for underage users and each pay the states roughly $5.3 billion. Meta will only pay the remaining 30 percent of its settlement, also $5.3 billion, if the two other companies agree to the terms.