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Meta agrees to pay up to $16.68 billion in child safety settlement
The proposed consent judgment would require daily usage limits and nighttime blocks for teens, plus stronger age verification and expanded parental controls.
Meta has agreed to pay up to $16.68 billion to settle a lawsuit brought by a coalition of 29 state attorneys general over claims that Facebook and Instagram were engineered to be addictive to children, misrepresented mental health harms, and collected minors' personal data without parental consent, according to Insurance Business. The settlement was filed in court on Wednesday.
As part of a proposed consent judgment, Meta would implement daily usage limits and nighttime blocks for teenage users, strengthen age verification to keep children off the platforms, and expand parental control tools. Meta denied wrongdoing.
The settlement calls for about 7% of the total amount to be paid upfront, with the remainder structured over time. The case is being handled before US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, with California Attorney General Rob Bonta co-leading alongside attorneys general from Colorado, New Jersey, and Kentucky.
Insurance Business reports that Meta shares rose about 5% in premarket trading after the news. The outlet also notes that, in Meta's own court filings ahead of trial, the company described a maximum exposure ceiling of roughly $1.4 trillion, while the states argued a more realistic figure was closer to $200 billion.