Meta reaches $16.68b settlement over social media harms to children

The Menlo Park, California-based company denied ​wrongdoing in agreeing to settle. Wednesday's settlement also resolves lawsuits by California, Illinois, New Mexico and Washington, DC, over ⁠privacy claims related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where the consulting firm collected personal data of millions of Facebook users.

Those states ​will receive $459.3 million to resolve those lawsuits. Shares of Meta rose 2.3% in early trading. The claims were part of a broader wave of litigation brought ​by states, local governments, school districts and individuals alleging that Meta and other social media companies fueled a nationwide youth mental health crisis.

The trial in the Oakland, California, federal court covered claims from California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey that Meta violated their state laws protecting consumers.

It also covered claims from 29 ​states that Meta violated the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting personal data from users it knew were children without parental ​notification or consent, and using the data to train machine learning and generative AI models.

Meta has long argued it could not have misled consumers about whether ‌its services ⁠were addictive because "social media addiction" is not a recognized psychiatric condition. Read More:Bill Gates, alarmed by AI, has policy ideas he wants to discuss with China's Xi.

Before the trial began on August 18, Meta said California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey were seekingup to $1.4 trillionin penalties. The states suggested that the figure would be closer to $200 billion. A mental health crisis.

Meta, Snapchat and its parent Snap, You. Tube and its parent Alphabet, and Tik. Tok and its parent Byte.

Dance still face thousands of lawsuits in federal and state ​courts over claims they knowingly designed ​their platforms to have features ⁠that addict children and teenagers, fueling a mental health crisis. A trial in Nashville over claims brought by Tennessee against Meta began last month.

The federal cases were consolidated before US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ​in Oakland, and include lawsuits brought by individuals, school districts and state governments. Earlier this year, Meta lost ​both phases of a ⁠landmark lawsuit brought by New Mexico.

A jury in Marchordered it to pay $375 millionafter finding it had misled consumers about the safety of its platforms. On August 6, a judge found Meta had created a public nuisance and ordered itto pay an additional $567 millionand implement youth-safety ⁠measures.

Also in ​March, the first trial over an individual’s claims against Meta and Google ended ​witha verdictin the plaintiff's favor. A Los Angeles jury found the companies liable for plaintiff Kaley G.M.'s depression and anxiety and ordered them to pay a combined $6 million ​in damages.

The companies have said they will appeal those verdicts.