Pennsylvania attorney general announces $500M Meta settlement over online child protections
HARRISBURG, Pa. —
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced a monetary settlement Wednesday with Meta that his office says will strengthen online protections for children and bring hundreds of millions of dollars to the commonwealth.
Pennsylvania is set to receive more than $500 million as part of the national settlement. The total national amount is $17.1 billion. The total number is contingent on other major social media companies agreeing to the same changes, according to the attorney general’s office.
“The days of Meta ignoring the damage its platforms cause kids are over — this is a landmark settlement that brings transformative changes to these hugely-popular social media spaces,” Sunday said. “These settlement terms will implement effective age restrictions, put a stop to endless scrolling, and limit body-altering filters that skew students’ feelings of self-worth.”
AG Dave Sunday talks to WGAL’s Tom Lehman.
The attorney general also highlighted other key provisions of the agreement.
A combined two-hour daily limit on Facebook and Instagram for children, with mandatory breaks after 15, 60 and 90 minutes. The limit will remain for five years and drop to one hour per platform for 10 years if Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube adopt similar rules.Blocking children’s access from midnight to 6 a.m.Silencing push notifications from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on school-year weekdays.Stronger age verification, parental controls and age-appropriate content safeguards.Restrictions on beauty filters, visible “like” counts and other “social-comparison” features.Independent audits to assess compliance and effectiveness.
Pennsylvania is expected to get $516 million over a period of years and could get up to $729 million.
“The good things in social media, you know, getting news, connecting with other people will still be there. This just limits the harmful effects of social media,” Sunday said. “This is a monumental, monumental agreement. This is a huge first step. And, you know, I thank Meta for coming to the table and working with us to get to this point. My hope is that the other companies will do the exact same thing. And that’s my belief. My belief is that that will happen.”
LINK | Read the full settlement. Note – the terms are subjected to approval by the Court.
Background on what led to the settlement
Beginning in 2021, attorneys general nationwide launched a bipartisan investigation into allegations that social media companies marketed their platforms to children and teens despite knowing the potential harms.
The investigation found that Meta designed Instagram features to encourage compulsive use among children, documented related mental health risks internally and failed to adequately warn parents, according to the attorney general’s office.
Attorneys general subsequently sued Meta, either independently or through consolidated federal suits. This settlement resolves those cases, as well as claims that Meta improperly shared Facebook users’ private information with third parties, including Cambridge Analytica, before the 2016 election.
Sunday makes the Meta settlement announcement at a news conference on Wednesday morning.