{"id":272909,"date":"2026-08-27T00:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T00:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/272909\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T00:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T00:22:09","slug":"pennsylvania-to-receive-over-500-million-after-meta-settlement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/272909\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania to receive over $500 million after Meta settlement"},"content":{"rendered":"

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHP) \u2014 Pennsylvania is expected to receive $519 million and potentially $729 million over the next years as part of a multistate settlement with Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.<\/p>\n

The settlement follows a bipartisan investigation launched by attorneys general across the country in 2021 into how social media platforms impacted children and teens.<\/p>\n

READ MORE | Meta reaches $17B settlement with states over claims its platforms harmed teens<\/a><\/p>\n

The investigation alleged that Meta designed features on Instagram and Facebook that encouraged compulsive use among young people.<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday says the settlement is about more than the money. It also requires Meta to make changes aimed at reducing potential harm to young users.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis settlement puts real guardrails around the way that young people interact with Meta platforms,\u201d Sunday said. \u201cIt gives parents more tools to know what\u2019s in their child\u2019s hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pennsylvania<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday speaks during a press conference on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (WHP)<\/p>\n

The settlement requires Meta to implement technology to verify the ages of young users and ensure child safety features are applied.<\/p>\n

It also includes a two-hour daily limit for children that can only be disabled with adult permission, eliminates push alerts during school hours and requires breaks for users.<\/p>\n

Sunday said the restrictions also include limiting a child\u2019s access to Meta platforms from midnight to 6 a.m. on school nights.<\/p>\n

Meta must also disable visible like and reaction counts and remove filters that mimic the effects of plastic surgery.<\/p>\n

An independent audit will track how Meta implements the changes and how effective the new features are.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to continue to hold these companies accountable,\u201d Sunday said.<\/p>\n

Sunday has also filed lawsuits against TikTok and Snapchat over similar concerns involving young users and social media.<\/p>\n

Chardonnay G., a Harrisburg resident and senior at Monroe University in New York, said she would have appreciated more regulations when social media was emerging.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we were learning how to navigate that kind of on our own,\u201d she said. \u201cI think a little bit of government interference is good with something like this, because there are very big parent companies like Meta that target younger audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meta released a statement urging other social media companies to implement similar guidelines.<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania is expected to receive more than $500 million from the settlement. How that money will be used is up to state lawmakers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHP) \u2014 Pennsylvania is expected to receive $519 million and potentially $729 million over the next…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272910,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-272909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}