Massive Meta Settlement Has Big Ifs
It may be the most significant legal settlement since major tobacco companies agreed in 1998 to pay out more than $200 billion and change controversial marketing practices seen as targeting kids.
Maybe: There are caveats and fine-print conditions.
On Wednesday, Meta announced it would pay up to $18 billion to dispose of lawsuits from 48 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. The owner of Facebook and Instagram also agreed to make sweeping changes to its products in the face of claims it endangered minors with predatory, even addictive, practices.
The practical changes read like a protective parent’s wish list. They include:
- A default two-hour daily time limit that can only be deactivated with parental permission.
- A “night mode” that blocks the apps between midnight and 6 a.m. No posting, searching, watching reels, etc. during that block of time.
- A “school mode” that mutes notifications between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Kids will still be able to get direct messages and account security alerts.
- The ability to disable algorithmic feeds – personalized displays that critics have blamed for excessive social media use.
In its lengthy explanation of the settlement, Meta doesn’t say why it did not enact these changes years ago.
The Caveats
But the caveats come fast and furious. At the bottom of the list of policy changes, the company says: “Our direct messaging features are excluded from Night Mode, Time Limit, and School Mode restrictions, to allow teens to stay connected with friends and family.”
So your child might not be able to fall down a rabbit hole of pirated “Game of Thrones” clips while you sleep, but they could stay in constant contact with their social media buddies in the wee hours of the morning or during third-period math class.
The more interesting caveats have to do with Meta’s message to two of its biggest rivals for teen eyeballs: YouTube and TikTok.
In fact, to hear the company tell it, that’s the settlement’s defining feature. Its statement is titled “Our Agreement With Bipartisan Attorneys General: Calling on TikTok and YouTube to Join Us in Supporting Teens.”
“These protections will only be truly effective if we work with our peers – TikTok and YouTube – to put the same measures in place,” Meta says.
And the social media giant goes well beyond merely inviting its competitors to come along.
Under the terms Meta disclosed, the money will come in two tranches:
- States will get about $12.7 billion – 70% of the promised payout – over 10 years.
- The remaining 30%, roughly $5.3 billion, will only be disbursed after YouTube and TikTok implement a one-hour daily limit, “night mode” and other measures. And only after each of those companies pays out matching the 30% amount.
You read that right. Meta is initially committing to a two-hour daily limit but wants YouTube and TikTok to accept a one-hour daily limit.
Meta says it will also reduce its daily time limit to one hour per app and expand night mode to 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. if its rivals sign on. It also says its time limit and “night mode” will extend from a five-year commitment to 10 years under those circumstances.
The settlement’s success “depends on all other social media platforms following Meta’s lead,” Meta’s chief legal officer, C.J. Mahoney, said in a statement.
It Ain’t Over
Assuming it’s approved by a judge, the agreement rescues Meta from some of its legal liabilities. The lawsuit is by no means the only one in which the social media titan has been accused of bad behavior endangering kids. There may be more settlements ahead.
There has been something of a global backlash against Big Tech. Countries are enacting restrictions on phone use in schools and access to all social media – not just Meta’s platforms. TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube also face potential courtroom drama in the U.S.
Meanwhile, the industry’s critics are hoping Meta’s rivals catch reform fever.
“This successful, coordinated multistate litigation has resulted in Meta being the first platform to come to the table and agree to such comprehensive reforms,” D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in a statement. “It will not be the last.”
