Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, has agreed to a major settlement over allegations about the addictiveness of its social platforms for children. According to court filings, the social media giant could pay as much as $17.1 billion to settle the litigation.The technology company has recently been on the losing end of several US lawsuits claiming it failed to disclose how younger users could be vulnerable to becoming addicted to its platforms. Meta denies the allegations.Meta has also been accused of failing to implement adequate safeguards to protect children and teenagers from online predators and other nefarious individuals.As a result of the settlement with 47 states, as well as the capital, Washington, and other territories, Meta has also broadly agreed to implement several features that would apply to younger users, such as daily time limits, fewer notifications and a cutoff to stop several of its platforms from functioning at night."Today, we are announcing an agreement with a bipartisan group of 52 attorneys general across US states, territories, and the District of Columbia, building on our longstanding efforts to empower parents and support teens," Meta said in a statement on Wednesday. The company, however, then pivoted in the statement and called out other Big Tech firms that it says teenagers often use. "For meaningful progress to happen, we urge TikTok and YouTube to join us and state attorneys general in adopting this new standard, to ensure teens use social media in a healthy and responsible way."The litigations has been bruising for the company in terms of public perception, with executives often taking the stand and appearing aloof and indifferent when answering questions about evidence pointing to negligence about how the company's products affected children. Witness Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, is questioned by states' lawyer Jason Slothouber before US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers during the case. ReutersShow caption: Witness Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, is questioned by st…On Tuesday, Instagram boss Adam Mosseri said in the witness box that it was "news to him" that his staffers were often told by a company lawyer to filter out data that gave a closer look at the safety of young users. Broader fallout for MetaFrom the earliest days of personal computing, companies have sought to find ways to keep users from getting bored and, importantly, to spend more time on their devices.In 1982, IBM employee Walter Doherty wrote a research paper in which he discussed how fast computers should respond to, process and display keystrokes to keep users interested - a concept that became known as the Doherty Threshold.Global debate has ensued and, for the most part, social media companies have been reluctant to address the core concerns of parents and legislators.In recent years, however, governments have started to step in and fill the regulatory vacuum that had been largely untouched since the debut of Facebook in 2004.Australia was one of the first countries to limit the use of social media apps among young people, and the UK recently announced plans to do something similar.The UAE became the first country in the Arab world to announce that children under 15 would not be allowed to use social media.Britain is preparing to implement restrictions that would ban children under 16 from the main social media platforms, starting next year.In the US, while there hasn't been much broad support among federal legislators for introducing a nationwide ban or policy, several states have sought to make changes on their own.The latest settlement from Meta would be the closest thing in the US to significant and broad changes impacting how young people use social media.