Social media giant Meta will pay over $1 billion to Texas and implement sweeping protections for children as part of a settlement with the state, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Wednesday.
The settlement comes as Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, tentatively agreed to a $17 billion payout to resolve a separate lawsuit brought by 33 states, which Texas was not a part of. The historic settlement, the first of this scale from a social media company, will end the ongoing trial in that case.
The states allege that Meta contributed to the growing youth mental health crisis by deliberately designing their social media platforms to be addicting to kids and teens. Meta, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, told the AP ahead of the trial that they are committed to supporting young people.
“We’ve listened to parents, worked with experts and law enforcement, and conducted in-depth research to understand the issues that matter most,” the company said in a statement.
As part of Texas’ settlement, Meta will apply stricter age verification measures and institute a daily two-hour limit for teens. All notifications from these platforms will be disabled by default during school hours, and the company will create a nighttime mode to restrict access for teens, Paxton said in a press release.
“It is my mission to fundamentally change and strengthen the standards for child safety online, and this settlement is a major step forward in the fight to ensure our kids are protected online,” Paxton said.
The case marks Paxton’s second settlement with Meta for north of $1 billion. In 2024, the tech giant agreed to pay Texas $1.4 billion to settle a lawsuit that accused the company of using personal biometric data without users’ authorization.
Disclosure: Facebook and Meta have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in The Texas Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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