Meta settles social media addiction claims for up to $18 billion

Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook and Instagram has agreed to settle a series of social media addiction claims for up to $18 billion.

Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, on Wednesday agreed to settle a wide-ranging social media addiction lawsuit with the state of California and a number of other states.

“The agreement includes a payment of approximately $18 billion, which can be used to fund youth online safety initiatives, among other state priorities,” Meta said in a statement.

The court filing says that the company “denies the allegations against it and that it has any liability to the Plaintiffs,” which are a collection of 29 states.

As part of the deal, “Meta commits to establishing daily limits and blocks on nighttime use for teenage users” as well as “enhanced age assurance measures to prevent children from accessing the platform, or age restricted content available on the platform,” the court filing also says.

Under the settlement, teen accounts would default to a setting that limits cumulative use across both Facebook and Instagram to two hours per day. The company said teens would need a parent’s permission to disable the two-hour limit.