Meta Agrees to Pay Up to $16.68 Billion to Settle States’ Child Safety Lawsuit

Meta Platforms ($META) has agreed to pay up to $16.68 billion to settle claims from U.S. states alleging Facebook and Instagram were designed to addict children, misrepresented platform safety and improperly collected children's personal data, according to court filings reported by Reuters. The agreement was reached during a closely watched federal trial in California involving claims from 29 states.

• The settlement resolves federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act claims brought by 29 states, along with state consumer-protection claims being tried by California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey.
• The states alleged Meta collected data from children under 13 without parental notice or consent and used children's data to train machine-learning and generative-AI models.
• Meta has denied wrongdoing and maintained that it has invested extensively in protections for younger users.
• The deal follows reports Tuesday that Meta and state attorneys general were discussing a possible mid-trial settlement. Instagram chief Adam Mosseri testified Tuesday as the trial entered its second week.
• Before trial, Meta said the four states' methodology could produce up to $1.4 trillion in penalties; state attorneys said in court that their figure was closer to $200 billion.
• Meta still faces thousands of other lawsuits alleging its platforms harmed young users, including separate individual, school-district and state cases.

Relevant Companies

• Meta Platforms ($META) — Agreed to the settlement and could pay up to $16.68 billion under its terms.

Editor’s Note: This is a developing story. This article may be updated as more details become available.