Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, the behemoth tech giant, conceded to pay $18 billion as part of a historic settlement with 48 state attorneys general who asserted the company created Instagram and Facebook deliberately to get kids hooked to the apps.
The agreement includes a vow from Meta to make changes that entail imposing daily usage limits, “nighttime blocks” on app use before bed and “enhanced age assurance measures” to ensure underage kids can’t use Facebook or Instagram, according to a court filing Wednesday.
Meta also agreed to create “additional tools to help parents and guardians to protect their children online” as part of what was described as a “consent judgment.”
Meta’s landmark social media settlement marks the latest milestone in a decade-long unwinding of Big Tech’s once-unfettered freedom to operate.
In addition, the AI industry is watching closely. Its historic growth, already fraught with job risks and public anxiety, depends on building thousands of power-hungry data centers in communities where opposition is rising fast.
“The last time we’ve seen the public this angry about an industry was during the financial crisis,” Nidhi Hegde, executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project, told Axios.
The $17 billion settlement of Meta requires sweeping changes to how teens can use Instagram and Facebook, including daily time limits and restrictions on certain beauty filters.
Meta is now calling on its competitors, YouTube and TikTok, to adopt similar protections — contending there won’t be “meaningful progress” on teen safety without them.
Apple and Google have both been compelled to loosen their grip on app-store payments and distribution after years of litigation.
Just last week, TikTok agreed to pay $400 million to settle federal allegations that it violated children’s privacy laws
Save and Share This Catholic Patriotic Minute!
