{"id":4180,"date":"2026-08-26T16:04:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T16:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=4180"},"modified":"2026-08-26T16:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T16:04:08","slug":"meta-reaches-17-billion-settlement-with-615-million-for-colorado-in-trial-over-teen-social-media-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=4180","title":{"rendered":"Meta reaches $17 billion settlement \u2014 with $615 million for Colorado \u2014 in trial over teen social media addiction"},"content":{"rendered":"
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OAKLAND, Calif. \u2014 Meta has agreed to pay $17 billion and add child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms to end a landmark trial over teen social media addiction and settle claims filed by 47 states, state attorneys general announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Read more PHOTOS: Colorado Peaches senior women\u2019s softball team celebrates 35 years of competition<\/a><\/p>\n

Colorado, California, Kentucky and New Jersey were among 29 states that sued the tech giant in 2023, but the deal cuts short the trial, which was expected to see CEO Mark Zuckerberg take the stand before a jury in federal court in California.<\/p>\n

The agreement is worth close to $615 million over nine years in Colorado alone, money that will \u201cgo directly to protecting and restoring the mental health and safety of Colorado children,\u201d state officials said.<\/p>\n

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser called the settlement a \u201cmonumental\u201d victory that will transform how social media companies design products for minors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe relief we are getting in this settlement is very meaningful and well beyond what any court has ordered or is likely to order,\u201d Weiser said in a statement. \u201cThe focus of this case was to protect our kids \u2014 stopping notifications and alerts at night and when they are in school, encouraging them to take breaks from social media, protecting them against harmful features, implementing age assurance technology, and more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meta did not respond immediately to a request for comment. The $17 billion settlement is a fraction of the company\u2019s 2025 revenue of $201 billion.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit accused Meta of contributing to the youth mental health crisis by deliberately designing features that addict children to its platforms and hiding them from the public. It also argued that Meta violated federal laws by routinely collecting data on children under 13 without their parents\u2019 consent.<\/p>\n

The trial kicked off last week in Oakland, California, with U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers overseeing the proceedings. Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, began his testimony late Tuesday and defended Meta\u2019s record and progress on child safety and privacy.<\/p>\n

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The cases in other states had been expected to go to trial later. In addition, nine attorneys general filed lawsuits in their respective states.<\/p>\n

Under the proposed settlement, Meta agreed to adopt a series of safety features, including a \u201chard cap\u201d on daily time limits and pauses for children using Instagram and Facebook.<\/p>\n

Read more Denver leaders want to curb \u2018hidden epidemic\u2019 of domestic violence strangulation<\/a><\/p>\n

It will eliminate push notifications during weekday school hours and bring in \u201crobust\u201d age assurance measures and \u201cage-appropriate\u201d content controls to prevent bullying and harmful material about eating disorders and self-harm.<\/p>\n

There will be stronger and more user-friendly parental controls and limits on social comparison features such as \u201clike\u201d counts.<\/p>\n

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The federal lawsuit was the result of an investigation led by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Vermont. It followed newspaper reports, first by The Wall Street Journal in 2021, that found that the company knew about the harm Instagram can cause teenagers \u2014 especially teen girls \u2014 when it comes to mental health and body image issues.<\/p>\n

Meta has since added a host of safety features to Instagram, including separate accounts for teenagers with stronger protections around messaging and privacy, along with content restrictions.<\/p>\n

But child safety experts, along with some former Meta employees, have long contended that the features are little more than window dressing.<\/p>\n

Arturo B\u00e9jar, a former Meta engineering director, said during his testimony last week that Meta consistently prioritized profits over safety in designing its products, focusing on how often and for how long people used them, even if it was detrimental to their mental well-being.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you step away from the product, they are not going to make any money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While the four states in the Oakland trial did not officially say how much they had been seeking, Meta said in a court filing that financial penalties in the case could amount to as much as $1.4 trillion \u2014 a figure legal experts said was unlikely, if not impossible.<\/p>\n

Read more Colorado will still mail out all ballots, despite Supreme Court ruling in favor of President Trump\u2019s order<\/a><\/p>\n

Get more business news by signing up for our Economy Now newsletter.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meta has agreed to pay $17 billion, including money to Colorado, and add child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms to end a landmark trial over teen social media addiction and settle claims filed by 47 states.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nMeta reaches $17 billion settlement \u2014 with $615 million for Colorado \u2014 in trial over teen social media addiction - Colorado Springs Moverss<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=4180\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meta reaches $17 billion settlement \u2014 with $615 million for Colorado \u2014 in trial over teen social media addiction - 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