Missouri is expected to receive at least $100 million of an historic $17 billion multistate settlement deal struck with Meta over claims that the social media giant designed its apps to keep young users engaged and hooked.
Meta Platforms, Inc., the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, agreed to pay $17.1 billion to settle a lawsuit brought by 47 states and Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands. It is the largest consumer protection settlement in U.S. history outside of the "Big Tobacco" lawsuits of the 1990s.
Under the settlement, Missouri will receive between $100 million and $150 million, Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said in a press release.
"Missouri is unwavering in its commitment to ensure
major tech platforms take responsibility for the safety of America's children," Hanaway said. "As a mother, I know how critical it is to shield kids from predators, addictive material, and content that harms their mental health. Every minor should be secure the moment they log on, and we will continue working toward a digital environment where children are truly protected, no matter where they live or which platform they use."
The settlement also requires the company to implement a series of safety features for young users on Instagram and Facebook. These include:
- Hard cap daily time limits and "Productive Pauses" for children, including a two-hour daily time limit with mandatory pauses after 15 minutes of continuous use and again at 60 and 90 minutes to interrupt endless scrolling.
- "Nighttime blocks" restricting children's access from 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.
- Limited school-time access for children, eliminating push notifications on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. during the school year.
- Robust age verification measures to more effectively verify the age of young users.
- Safer, age-appropriate content controls, including stronger safeguards against bullying, content promoting eating disorders and content related to suicide and self-harm.
- Stronger, more user-friendly parental controls.
- Limits on social comparison features, including beauty filters and visible "like" counts, that have been linked to poor mental health outcomes in kids and teens.
Hanaway commended Meta for becoming the first major platform to achieve a comprehensive youth safety resolution and urged platforms such as TikTok and YouTube to do the same.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri to get $100 million in Meta settlement over youth addiction claims
