Meta will pay up to $17.1 billion over 10 years — and implement broad child-safety reforms on Instagram and Facebook — under a nationwide settlement with 26 state attorneys general, including California’s Rob Bonta.
The agreement, subject to court approval, resolves claims by the state AGs that Meta designed Instagram with addictive features, knowingly exposed young users to serious mental harms, and intentionally misled the public about the safety of its platforms, among other things.
Variety has reached out to Meta for comment.
The case, brought by a group of 29 states, was co-led by California’s Bonta — who is currently locked in a standoff with Paramount over an antitrust suit seeking to block its Warner Bros. Discovery takeover — and AGs from Colorado, New Jersey and Kentucky.
The settlement comes after the trial in the case began on Aug. 18 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
