Meta has reached a whopping $18 billion settlement with U.S. states that sued the social media company over Instagram and Facebook’s alleged addictive effects on young people. Prosecutors and the company made the announcement. Meta has also promised reforms to its social media platform, including mandatory night breaks, time limits and hiding likes from underage users.
A total of 29 states in the United States have accused Meta of intentionally designing its platform to be addictive. Taking into account the settlement amount, the technology company founded by Mark Zuckerberg will lose much less than the $200 billion that a losing case could cost.
How much Meta actually pays also depends on rival TikTok and Google subsidiary YouTube. The agreement stipulates that Meta will continue to pay $5.3 billion only if these video apps also introduce time limits and pay similarly high amounts.
