Mark Zuckerberg looks under the couch pillows 4 spare change

[samhexum]

A landmark $18 billion settlement will force Meta to implement a suite of changes that will shift how teens use Instagram and Facebook. The new measures, which include screen time limits and a default ban on activity during late nights and school hours, are designed to protect teens from excessive use.

Attorneys general representing some of the 29 US states that had taken Meta to trial announced the deal on Wednesday, shortly before Instagram head Adam Mosseri was set to return to the witness stand. In a separate announcement detailing the settlement, Meta urged YouTube and TikTok to adopt similar changes to their platforms.

The settlement is a stunning development; while other social media services, including YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok, resolved similar lawsuits out of court, Meta has repeatedly chosen to go to trial. Earlier this year, it lost state trials in California and New Mexico, notching nearly $1 billion in penalties. The company’s first federal trial on the youth issues began last week and threatened to leave the company on the hook for what it estimated to be over $1 trillion in damages.

As part of the settlement, teen-specific accounts will be blocked from using Meta platforms from midnight to 6 a.m. They will also be limited to two hours a day of use across Instagram and Facebook, with some exceptions like messaging and long-form content. Meta has also promised to detect teens’ use across multiple accounts, tallying up their total and locking them out after they hit a limit. Teens can override the rules with parental approval.

 

Teen accounts will also come with default pauses on notifications during school hours and overnight, from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Nighttime notifications are already paused on Instagram for users under 16.

The settlement might include even stronger restrictions if YouTube and TikTok, two major competitors to Meta, agree to adopt new protections as well. If that occurs, the screen time limit could go down to just 60 minutes a day.

https://apple.news/Aguk2ukK2RaO5WSkjIxLu4w

[BigDMike]

These big law suits and settlements are great and all and hopefully will teach them a lesson (doubtful) but I would be much more supportive of their efforts if this money was in turn distributed to those affected by this.  Does this money just go to the state and that's the end of it?  Saying X users were harmed, state wins the case...gets money and then that's it?  I don't have kids nor would profit but it seems like these things should be going back to families? 

I liken this to the tariffs that were deemed illegal and companies are getting refunds....they passed those costs on to consumers who bought things....should those consumers get some of that in return?

Okay, off my soap box. 

Edited yesterday at 12:35 AM by BigDMike

[Luv2play]

I liked what happened in the Canada Bread price fixing case. There was a class action law suit and the courts awarded $500 million. All Canadians were entitled to to file a damage claim without having to prove they bought the bread. 
In my case I did buy their bread but of course had no receipts. Anyway I filed a claim online and a year later got $49 deposited in my bank account. They had guaranteed $25 in restitution but fewer people filed claims.