Meta has agreed to one of the largest court settlements in American history at $17 billion dollars, stemming from a lawsuit brought on by 29 states.
The lawsuit alleged the parent company of Facebook and Instagram designed its platforms to exploit young users. If the settlement agreement is approved by the court, Meta would pay more than $17 billion to the states named in the lawsuit, including Illinois and Indiana.
The proposed settlement agreement would also implement new safety features that block kids from using Facebook and Instagram from midnight to 6 a.m. and create a two-hour daily use time limit for minors with mandatory pauses after 15 minutes of scrolling, according to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul. Stronger, more user-friendly parental controls and school-time limitations are also proposed in the court filing.
Meta told NBC 5 Responds in part, “…these protections will only be truly effective if our peers—TikTok and YouTube—put the same measures in place.”
Court documents reviewed by NBC 5 Responds show the company denied the allegations brought forward in the lawsuit. The settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing.
The court documents explain the amount paid to each settling state shall be used for “any lawful purpose consistent with the state’s Attorney General’s authority,” such as:
- Crisis intervention services
- After school or summer programs
- Public health advertising
- Funding outdoor activities
- Youth mental health programming
- Support the hiring of digital literacy counselors or implement phone-free school zones
- Grants to school districts or other local government entities
- Investigation, litigation, and related efforts to improve teen safety on social media
The settlement agreement is still pending court approval.
from NBC Chicago https://ift.tt/i6z5mxD
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