Meta agrees to $16.7 billion settlement with 51 state attorneys general, but lawsuits continue
Meta will pay about $12.7 billion over ten years and implement usage limits for teens, while separate actions and lawsuits against the company and other platforms remain pending.
Meta announced a $16.7 billion settlement with California Attorney General Rob Bonta and a coalition of 51 state attorneys general, covering claims that its platforms fostered social-media addiction among minors. Under the consent judgment approved by a federal court in Oakland, the company must add daily usage caps, nighttime blocks, stronger age-verification tools and new parental-control features to Facebook and Instagram.
The states in the agreement will receive roughly $12.7 billion over a decade, with the possibility of an additional $5.3 billion from other companies such as Google’s YouTube and TikTok if they adopt comparable safeguards. Texas reached a separate $1 billion deal, while Florida continues its own lawsuit.
"It is not preemptive in any way. It's a floor conceptually, not a ceiling," Bonta said at a press conference.
"A few weeks of revenue, that's not enough here when you're talking about a company of this size. We'll go to court, we like to fight for our kids in Florida," Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier told CNBC.
Legal analysts note that the settlement resolves part of Meta's civil exposure but does not eliminate pending claims from school districts and individual plaintiffs, nor does it prevent future regulatory actions. Attorneys representing school districts said they will keep pursuing litigation against Meta and other platforms.
"Thousands of young people and public-school districts still have claims pending in the MDL against Meta, as well as TikTok, Snap and YouTube, and we stand ready to continue that fight," a joint statement from the districts' counsel read.
Industry observers said the deal could set a precedent for other tech firms, though Meta did not admit liability. The settlement also includes a requirement that Meta change its practices at significant cost.
"This is a recognition by Meta that they need to change their practices, and that is what is so enormous about this case," attorney Jayne Conroy said.
The agreement does not preclude further lawsuits or potential legislation aimed at curbing addictive features on social-media platforms.