RALEIGH — Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, has agreed to pay North Carolina at least $451 million and potentially as much as $645 million as part of a multistate settlement over allegations that the company harmed children through its social media platforms.
The settlement, reached by Attorney General Jeff Jackson and attorneys general from 51 states and territories, would require Meta to make changes designed to improve child and teen safety on Instagram and Facebook. The agreement still requires approval by a federal court.
“This is about protecting kids and empowering parents,” Jackson said Wednesday, Aug. 26. “We know that this company built these apps to keep kids hooked and misled parents about what was happening. Today, Meta has to change those features and hand parents the controls.”
Nationwide, Meta could pay as much as $17.1 billion under the settlement, which state officials described as the second-largest state consumer protection settlement in U.S. history and the largest involving a major technology company.
Among the required changes, Meta would implement new age-verification measures intended to identify users under 13 and remove them from the platforms. For users ages 13 to 17, the company would establish default limits on daily and nighttime use, turn off push notifications during school hours and hide like and reaction counts.
The settlement also would require Meta to disable certain face-altering filters that mimic cosmetic surgery and notify parents when a suspicious person contacts their teen. An independent auditor would review Meta’s compliance and publicly report its findings.
North Carolina is scheduled to receive at least $451 million from the settlement through 2035, with the potential for an additional $194 million if states achieve industrywide adoption of similar protections.
Jackson is encouraging the General Assembly to use the settlement funds for after-school and summer school programs, crisis helplines for children and school health personnel.
Allegations against Meta
North Carolina, under then-Attorney General Josh Stein, joined 32 other states in filing a federal lawsuit against Meta in October 2023. The states alleged that Meta violated state consumer protection laws by designing Instagram and Facebook features to encourage children to spend more time on the platforms while publicly minimizing risks to young users.
The states also alleged that Meta violated the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting personal information from children under 13 without obtaining the required parental consent.
The case relied substantially on Meta’s internal records, according to the states.
The states alleged that Meta researchers had identified features that encouraged children to return to the platforms. Internal documents discussed children’s sensitivity to intermittent rewards and described how Instagram’s Explore page, recommendations and social connections could produce repeated dopamine responses.
One internal document said younger users generally had more difficulty with self-regulation.
The states also alleged that Meta knew Instagram was disrupting teens’ sleep and learning. According to the allegations, millions of teenagers used Meta’s platforms between midnight and 4 a.m. each week, while notifications were used to encourage users to return to the apps during the school day.
The states further alleged that Instagram could steer children toward harmful content. Internal testing reportedly showed that users who began following eating-disorder-related accounts could receive recommendations for additional accounts focused on eating disorders.
The lawsuit also cited Meta’s research concerning like counts and appearance comparisons. According to the states, the company knew prominently displayed like counts could encourage young users to compare themselves with others and negatively affect their self-image.
An internal document described social pressure as, to a large extent, “built-in to the Instagram experience.”
Employees also reportedly raised concerns about filters that alter users’ faces to resemble cosmetic surgery. The states said internal discussions showed employees warned executives, including Mark Zuckerberg, that the filters could contribute to body-image problems among young girls.
The states alleged that Meta knew millions of children under 13 were using Instagram. In one instance, Meta estimated that approximately 4 million Instagram users were younger than 13, while at other times the company had backlogs involving millions of accounts reported as belonging to users under 13.
The states alleged the conduct occurred on a large scale, estimating that approximately 22 million U.S. teenagers logged onto Instagram each day.
According to the states, Meta continued to tell parents that its platforms were designed to be safe and appropriate for children and teens despite the information contained in its internal records.
Changes for teens and parents
If the settlement receives federal court approval, changes to teen accounts are expected to begin within a few months. The protections would apply by default to users ages 13 to 17.
Parents would be able to adjust the settings by creating an Instagram or Facebook account and linking it to their teen’s account. They would also have access to information about their teen’s social media use.
Under the agreement, Meta would be required to strengthen its efforts to verify the ages of young users and remove children under 13 from its platforms.
For teens ages 13 to 17, Instagram and Facebook would impose a two-hour daily usage limit. Once a teen reaches the limit, the account would time out until the following day. Teens would still be able to send direct messages but would not be able to scroll or access their feeds.
The apps also would be blocked from midnight to 6 a.m. each night. During that period, teens would not be able to scroll or access their feeds.
Push notifications would be disabled during school hours, defined under the agreement as 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays from Aug. 15 through June 15. The states said children receive more than 200 notifications on their phones each day, with nearly 23% occurring during school hours.
Meta also would be required to introduce prompts intended to interrupt continuous scrolling. After 15 minutes of continuous use, teens would receive a pop-up notification discouraging them from continuing to scroll. Additional restrictions would take effect after 60 minutes of use.
Like and reaction counts would be hidden by default on posts, stories and reels as a measure intended to reduce social comparison among teens.
The restrictions would apply across devices. For example, a teen who reaches the two-hour limit on Instagram using a phone would not be able to continue using the account on a tablet. Meta would also work to identify teens with multiple accounts to prevent them from using additional accounts to bypass the limits.
The settlement would require additional changes beyond the default time and notification restrictions.
Teens would be given the option of selecting a nonpersonalized feed that displays posts chronologically rather than through Meta’s algorithm.
Meta also would work with parents, teens and child safety experts to evaluate and improve measures intended to limit children’s exposure to inappropriate material. The effort would include sexually explicit content, illegal drug use and other material that could have harmful effects when viewed excessively, including some diet and fitness content associated with eating disorders.
Teen accounts would be private by default, and Meta would prevent them from being recommended to suspected unsafe users.
Teens also would be able to report various forms of harmful content, including bullying, harassment, suicide, self-harm, violent or disturbing material and sexual content. Meta would be required to respond to most of those reports within six hours.
“I took Meta to court in 2023 because I alleged it was knowingly endangering kids to make more money,” Gov. Josh Stein said. “Today Attorney General Jackson is holding Meta accountable, and we begin to right this wrong and protect kids. I look forward to working with the legislature to use these funds to improve teens’ mental health.”
Settlement fine print
The settlement includes Tennessee, California, Colorado, Kentucky, New Jersey, Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Settlement payments would be made in 10 installments over eight years. Meta would make the first payment 30 days after court approval, followed by payments each Jan. 15.
North Carolina would receive at least $451 million to resolve its claims. The state could receive an additional $194 million if the participating states achieve industrywide adoption of protections similar to those required by the settlement.
That additional payment also would trigger further time restrictions for teens.
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