Oklahoma to receive $235 million in Meta youth safety settlement

OKLAHOMA –Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced a $17.1 billion multistate settlement with Meta Platforms over allegations that the company used harmful and addictive features on Facebook and Instagram that affected children and teens.

The agreement involves Oklahoma, 46 other states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It also resolves claims involving Meta’s sharing of nonpublic Facebook user information with third parties, including Cambridge Analytica.

The settlement is subject to court approval and would require Meta to implement and regularly assess new safety measures for young users.

The agreement is valued at $17.1 billion, making it one of the largest state consumer protection settlements in history.

In addition to the financial settlement, Meta must implement a broad set of safety features intended to protect children and teens on Facebook and Instagram.

Oklahoma and 46 other states, along with Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, are part of the settlement.

The states alleged that Meta designed Instagram with addictive features, knowingly exposed young users to serious mental harms and misled the public about the safety of its platforms.

Oklahoma will receive a guaranteed $235,578,728 under the agreement.

That amount could increase to $334,107,696 if additional core industry members, including Snap, YouTube and TikTok, agree to similar settlements.

Drummond filed Oklahoma’s lawsuit against Meta in October 2023.

The settlement resolves Oklahoma’s claims, along with those brought by the other participating jurisdictions, over youth safety and Meta’s alleged sharing of nonpublic Facebook user information with third parties such as Cambridge Analytica.

Drummond said harmful online features extend beyond any one company and credited Meta with being the first major platform to reach a comprehensive resolution on youth safety.

The safety requirements will be regularly assessed by an independent auditor and the settling states. Drummond said the changes required under the agreement are more significant and comprehensive than those previously ordered by any court.

The requirements also would become stricter if other core industry members join the settlement or become subject to similar terms.

The settlement requires Meta to implement a series of safety features on Instagram and Facebook teen user accounts, including:

• Prohibitions on social comparison features, including disabling cosmetic procedure filters and visible “like” or reaction counts, which have been linked to poor mental health outcomes in kids and teens.
• Hard cap daily time limits of two hours for five years across all Meta Social Media Platforms (i.e., Facebook, Instagram, and any new or spinoff features).
• Productive pauses for children including mandatory pauses after 15 minutes of continuous use and again at 60 and 90 minutes to interrupt endless scrolling.
• Nighttime blocks restricting children’s access from midnight to 6 a.m. and restricting push notifications from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
• School mode, restricting school-time access for children, eliminating push notifications on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the school year.
• Robust age assurance measures to more effectively verify the age of young users, and prohibiting accounts for children under the age of 13.
• 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 and default parental controls.

The settlement must receive court approval before it takes effect.

If approved, Meta will be required to implement the safety measures and undergo regular assessments of their implementation and effectiveness.