Legal/Law/Criminal Justice and Reform

Meta Pays $17,000,000,000 Over Harm To Kids On Social Media

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Meta caved in its multi-state lawsuit over alleged child social media addiction claims.

The big tech platform agreed to the $17 billion settlement with California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey in People of the State of California, et al. v. Meta Platforms, Inc. in Oakland, CA, Wednesday, Axios reported. The deal ends a $1.4 trillion lawsuit with the four states as Meta says it will limit under-18 users to two hours of social media use per day in its platforms.

“Today, we have secured a settlement with Meta that will make social media less dangerous for our kids and make a world of a difference for children and their families,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a Wednesday press release.

“Meta has agreed to make massive transformations that will reduce the risk of harm from its platforms — and will do it within months. We are talking about time limits, stopping notifications during school, a block on the app during critical overnight hours, bans on plastic surgery filters, and so much more,” Bonta added.

“The settlement legitimizes what many of us have been saying for years about the harmful effects of social media on child and adolescent development, and it allows parents to pay some attention to their children’s social media use, where in the past they have paid little to no attention, Nicole Runyon, a former child psychotherapist and parent coach, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The lawsuits have made it so that there is no doubt that social media is harmful to children.”

Runyon said that lawsuits alone will not resolve the issue of social media addiction, referring back to tobacco companies being defeated by lawsuits just for vapes to hook the next generation.

“It’s up to parents and the surrounding community to maintain influence, connection, and authority to help children make healthy choices and respect rules,” Runyon told the DCNF. “Delay social media and teach kids how to use it while you delay it so that when it’s time to use it, they can use it for good, such as learning how to amplify a message or start a business.”

She argued that Meta’s implementation of parental controls lulls parents into a “false sense of security,” so they won’t look more closely into their children’s social media use.

“Parents can’t rely on the government to save this generation!” Runyon told the DCNF.

Meta did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

Meta further agreed to restrict children from accessing Facebook and Instagram from midnight to six a.m., limit notifications during school hours and give kids the choice of a chronological feed instead of one based on an algorithm, according to the settlement.

“All platforms should empower parents and support teens in these ways because we know that when teens are restricted on one app, they simply move to another. For meaningful progress to happen, we urge our peers to join us,” Meta said in a letter, according to Axios.

Meta called on YouTube and Tiktok to join them in limited children’s social media use.

“We want to ensure teens benefit from this new industry standard, but we cannot do it alone. These protections will only be truly effective if we work with our peers – TikTok and YouTube – to put the same measures in place,” Meta said in the same letter, Axios reported.