Key facts
- Meta Platforms has settled claims brought by 29 states regarding teen social media harm.
- The lawsuit alleged Meta designed Instagram and Facebook to addict children and misled consumers about safety.
- The settlement resolves claims that Meta improperly collected personal data from child users.
- The deal was reached during a California federal court trial.
- Meta has denied allegations, stating it has worked to protect children on its platforms.
Meta Platforms has reached a settlement to resolve claims brought by 29 states alleging the company designed Instagram and Facebook to addict children, misled consumers about their safety, and improperly collected personal data from child users. The deal was finalized during a federal court trial in California, averting a high-profile test of allegations against social media companies regarding youth mental health.
The lawsuit included claims that Meta violated state consumer protection laws and the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. Meta has denied the allegations, asserting its efforts to protect children and questioning the recognition of 'social media addiction' as a psychiatric condition. States had sought significant penalties, potentially totaling hundreds of billions of dollars, along with platform changes and restrictions on child accounts.
This settlement follows other legal setbacks for Meta, including jury verdicts in New Mexico and an individual's lawsuit that found the company liable for harms to young users. Meta faces thousands of similar lawsuits from individuals, school districts, and state governments across federal and state courts, alongside other major social media companies like Snap, Alphabet, and ByteDance.