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Meta agrees to pay up to $18 billion to settle youth lawsuits
The agreement caps Meta’s payments at about $18 billion versus plaintiffs’ prior demand of up to $1.4 trillion, with $12.7 billion guaranteed and about $5 billion dependent on industry changes tied to YouTube and TikTok.
Meta Platforms has agreed to pay up to about $18 billion to settle state lawsuits over allegations involving youth social media addiction, according to MarketBeat Ratings. The settlement is described as materially smaller than the potential civil penalties cited by state plaintiffs.
The outlet said Meta previously noted that plaintiffs sought up to $1.4 trillion in damages. Even an earlier comparison to $200 billion in damages expectations would make the maximum $18 billion payment only about 9% of that figure, MarketBeat Ratings reported.
Of the total, MarketBeat Ratings said $12.7 billion is guaranteed. That includes a separate $1 billion settlement involving Texas and $459 million tied to resolution of state cases related to Meta’s 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal, while the remaining roughly $5 billion is contingent on broader industry action.
MarketBeat Ratings added that the additional payments depend in part on Alphabet’s YouTube and ByteDance’s TikTok adopting measures such as a one-hour daily limit, Night Mode, and age-assurance steps, along with corresponding monetary payments. Separately, Meta agreed to youth-safety measures including a two-hour daily limit for children using its apps and a nighttime block between midnight and 6 a.m., though parents can voluntarily remove the restrictions.