Meta decided that discretion was the better part of valor on Wednesday, agreeing to settle a landmark child safety case for up to $17 billion. The agreement would introduce a default two-hour daily limit for teens on Instagram and Facebook, overnight restrictions, and a range of other protections.
It also brings the trial to an early end before Mark Zuckerberg, who was listed as a witness, could testify.
The company reached the settlement with a bipartisan coalition of 51 state attorneys general, after four days of proceedings in a federal trial in Oakland.
California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey led the case, which they filed in 2023. It alleged that Meta broke state laws by designing addictive products for young users without warning them of the risks. It also accused the company of violating the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) law, which protects the privacy of children under 13.
Because violating these laws carries potentially hefty fees for each violation, Meta’s liability could reportedly have run to $1.4 trillion had it lost at trial. The states had proposed a penalty of $193 billion. By settling, Meta reduced that potential bill considerably.
