Ohio AG announces $17.1B multistate settlement with Meta for safety measures on …

COLUMBUS — Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson announced a landmark $17.1 billion multistate settlement on Wednesday with Meta that will require the company to implement sweeping new safety measures designed to better protect children and teens on Instagram and Facebook. “With this historic settlement, Meta agrees to establish meaningful protections for young users,” Wilson said. “Digital platforms that cater to children have a duty to shield impressionable minds from the risks of unchecked exposure to social media.”  Under the proposed agreement, Ohio is expected to receive more than $319 million over the next decade. The settlement resolves claims that Meta designed its social media platforms with features intended to keep young users engaged and addicted, knowingly exposed children and teens to serious mental harms, and intentionally misled the public about the safety of its platforms, while also violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting data of children under the age of 13. The agreement represents a victory for the protection of children online and marks a significant step toward fundamentally transforming how the entire social media industry designs products for kids and teens. The settlement requires Meta to implement a series of safety features on Instagram and Facebook
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