Meta — the company that owns Facebook and Instagram — has reached a 17-BILLION dollar settlement with 47 states, including Iowa, that had filed lawsuits alleging the company’s platforms were harming children. Iowa will get nearly 126-and-a-half MILLION dollars over the next decade from the tech giant. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird sued Meta in April, accusing the company of violating Iowa’s consumer protection laws with smart phone apps designed to get minors addicted to social media.
The settlement ends a trial in California where four other states were charging that Meta designed Facebook and Instagram to keep teens on the platforms for hours — and collected data from children under 13 without parental consent. Bird says as part of the national settlement, Meta has agreed to block teen usage on Facebook and Instagram from midnight to 6 a.m., plus parental control settings will be simplified.
Bird says these changes are a win for kids and the families that love them.
Meta has also agreed to include a two-hour daily time limit for teenagers on Facebook and Instagram accounts and periodic “hard stops” to keep kids from endlessly scrolling through pictures, videos and other content. Bird plans to use some of the millions Meta will pay the state to audit the platforms to see if the company is following through on these promises, plus some of the money will finance counseling for kids diagnosed with mental health issues connected to their social media use.
In a separate agreement, Meta has agreed to pay Iowa an additional nine-MILLION dollars to settle claims it shared informaton about Facebook users with third parties, including political consultants. The State of Iowa’s lawsuit against TikTok is scheduled to go to court next year. The state has also sued the online gaming platform Roblox (ROH-blocks).
