On August 26, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport announced “a landmark multistate settlement of up to $17.1 billion with Meta Platforms, Inc.,” describing the settlement as “a historic step in protecting consumers and the largest state consumer protection settlement in history outside the Big Tobacco settlements of the 1990s.”
Under the settlement, Meta must implement additional safety features designed to protect children and teenagers on Instagram and Facebook. Additionally, New Jersey will receive at least $525 million and could receive over $752 million from the settlement.
The settlement, approved by the court August 26, resolves claims by 47 States and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands that Meta “designed its platform with addictive features, knowingly exposed young users to serious mental harms, and intentionally misled the public about the safety of its platforms, among other things.”
The Facebook and Instagram safety features that Meta will be required to implement include:
- A daily time limit of two hours combined for Instagram and Facebook use, with automatic pauses after 15 minutes of continuous use, and again after 60 and 90 minutes—to 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 and extend to 10 years.
- “Nighttime blocks” restricting youth access from 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.
- Limited school‑time access for children, with limited push notifications on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. during the school year.
- Enhanced procedures to more effectively verify the age of users.
- Stronger safeguards against bullying, content promoting eating disorders, and content related to suicide and self‑harm.
- Parent controls that are easier to use and more effective.
- Restricted social comparison features, including beauty filters and visible “like” counts linked to poor mental health outcomes in children and teens.
- Independent audits of Meta’s implementation and the impact of these new safety features, reported to and reviewed by concerned states.
Many of the same States/jurisdictions also announced the resolution of claims against Meta for its sharing of nonpublic information about Facebook users with third parties like Cambridge Analytica in the run-up to the 2016 election. Meta will pay more than $460 million to settle these separate data-privacy claims, of which New Jersey will receive more than $20 million.
The NJSBA will continue reviewing the settlement agreement for any potential impact on New Jersey schools.
