Meta needing to pay $23 billion and update Facebook and Instagram to settle teen social media addiction lawsuits

Meta has agreed to pay $US23 billion ($23.6 billion) and add child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms to end a landmark trial over teen social media addiction and settle claims filed by 47 US states, state attorneys-general have announced.

The lawsuit accused Meta of contributing to the youth mental health crisis by deliberately designing features that addict children to its platforms and hiding them from the public. The head of Instagram, began his testimony late on Tuesday, local time, and defended Meta’s record and progress on child safety and privacy.

Under the proposed settlement, Meta agreed to adopt a series of safety features, including a “hard cap” on daily time limits and pauses for children using Instagram and Facebook. It will eliminate push notifications during weekday school hours and bring in “robust” age assurance measures and “age-appropriate” content controls to prevent bullying and harmful material about eating disorders and self-harm. There will also be stronger and more user-friendly parental controls and limits on social comparison features such as “like” counts.

The deal cuts short a trial that was expected to see chief executive Mark Zuckerberg take the stand in California, one of the 29 states to sue the tech giant. The agreement is worth $US353 million in Virginia alone and is one of the biggest in state consumer protection history, Attorney-General Jones said in a statement.

The settlement “will put an end to these dangerous practices and deliver meaningful relief that will protect children from online harm”. After reaching the settlement, Meta framed the deal as a template for the rest of the industry and pressed its competitors to match it.