CHARLESTON, W.Va. — In the biggest national settlement since the tobacco companies agreed to terms over lawsuits in the 1990’s, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram will pay billions of dollars and change the safeguards on their platforms to better protect children.
“West Virginia’s share of this settlement is going to be upwards of $114 Million, just an astronomical amount of money for our legislature to be able to distribute and spend in the furtherance of our children’s mental health and insuring their futures are bright,” said West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey in the announcement.
META will pay a total of $17.1 Billion in the multi-state settlement. However, beyond the money the more important development according to McCuskey is the changes which are required to limit the exposure of children on Facebook and Instagram and safeguards to shield them from potential child predators.
“META knew the dangers it was exposing our children to, all while assuring parents its platforms were safe. That betrayal of trust demanded accountability, and today we’ve delivered it. This settlement isn’t just about the historic payout; it’s about the real changes Meta has now pledged to make to protect our kids online,” he said.
The settlement requirements will include:
–Hard cap daily time limits and “Productive Pauses” for children: for its two platforms, Instagram and Facebook, a combined two-hour daily time limit with mandatory pauses after 15 minutes of continuous use and again at 60 and 90 minutes to interrupt endless scrolling. These limits remain in effect for five years. If Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube adopt comparable terms, the daily limit on each platform will drop to 60 minutes for 10 years.
–“Nighttime blocks” restricting children’s access from 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.
–Limited school-time access for children, eliminating push notifications on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. during the school year.
–Robust age assurance measures to more effectively verify the age of young users.
–Safer, age-appropriate content controls, including stronger safeguards against bullying, content promoting eating disorders, and content related to suicide and self-harm.
–Stronger, more user-friendly parental controls.
–Limits on social comparison features, including beauty filters and visible “like” counts, that have been linked to poor mental health outcomes in kids and teens.
“They treated the children of this country as a way for themselves to make money and that’s what they are being held accountable for today. They were not providing the appropriate safeguards they knew a long time ago needed to be there to keep our children safe,” McCuskey said.
West Virginia’s participation in the lawsuit started in 2023 when then Attorney General Patrick Morrisey joined his counterparts in 33-states in the federal lawsuit filed in the northern district of California. Following today’s settlement, Morrisey put out he following statement:
“When we first launched this bipartisan investigation and joined 32 other states in federal court, our mandate was crystal clear: protecting West Virginia’s youth from reckless corporate practices that profit off child addiction,” said Governor Patrick Morrisey. “Meta knew the immense physical and psychological toll its platforms were taking on young people, yet chose profit over the mental health and safety of our children.”
Today’s historic $16.7 billion settlement is a monumental victory for families across West Virginia and the nation. It sends an unmistakable message to Big Tech that no company, no matter how powerful, is immune from consumer protection laws or accountable oversight. As Attorney General, I fought to ensure our kids weren’t treated as an ‘untapped’ commercial resource, and as Governor, I will continue to ensure our communities have the resources and protections needed to foster a safe, healthy environment for the next generation.
I also want to commend Attorney General J.B. McCuskey and his team at the Attorney General’s Office for their dedicated leadership in carrying this critical suit across the finish line.”
McCuskey during his press conference also commended Morrisey’s pursuit of the case.