tech
Meta will impose daily limits on child Instagram users and pay $17bn
Wednesday's settlement resolves a lawsuit brought against Meta by 29 states over claims Instagram and Facebook were deliberately designed to hook young users.

TL;DR
- Meta will pay almost $17 billion to settle a lawsuit claiming Instagram and Facebook harmed young users.
- The settlement resolves claims that Meta deliberately designed its platforms to hook children and misled users about minor safety.
- Meta will impose daily usage limits of two hours for users under 18 and a nighttime block from midnight to 6 am.
- The settlement includes restrictions on notifications during school and night hours, and a ban on showing 'likes' counts for minors.
- A ban on cosmetic surgery image filters for young users is also part of the agreement.
- Meta will hire an independent auditor to ensure it ceases making deceptive statements about safety features.
- The settlement payment will be distributed to the states over the next ten years.
- The total settlement amount includes a portion that depends on rivals like Google's YouTube and TikTok implementing similar app changes.
- Key testimony came from former Meta staffers who raised concerns about content pushed to young users.
- Instagram's head admitted that the 'Take a Break' feature was not widely adopted when first introduced.
- Meta is the first social media company to settle, with investigations ongoing for Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube.