Arizona will receive about $223 million as part of a massive settlement of a case that alleged Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, targeted young people with addictive features and knowingly exposed them to serious mental health risks.
The state’s share is part of a $17 billion agreement with Meta Platforms, the largest settlement ever against a big tech company. Meta will also implement changes to Facebook and Instagram designed to make them safer for children.
Those safety measures could upend how many young people engage with social media.
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The changes are targeted at users aged 13 to 17 and include implementing daily time limits of 2 hours of use with mandatory pauses at certain intervals to interrupt nonstop scrolling. There are also a range of improvements to combat bullying, strengthen parent controls and limit features that promote comparisons, like beauty filters and counts of “likes.”
Attorney General Kris Mayes said the settlement marked “a sea change in the way we regulate the use of social media platforms by young people.” One of those is her own daughter, a teenager, and Mayes grew emotional talking about the impact of the case.
“I woke up this morning and I said a prayer, and I said thank you God for the fact that we won this settlement,” Mayes said. “You know? This is the most important thing I think I will ever do as attorney general. I think we now have to get all these other social media companies on board. I think it’s going to change the face of social media forever and that is most important for our kids.”
Mayes joined 28 other states that sued the social media giant, which owns Facebook and Instagram, in October 2023. The high-stakes trial began Aug. 18 in Meta’s home state, California, about a week before the settlement was announced.
The settlement resolves a broader universe of claims brought by 48 states and several U.S. territories — a bipartisan coalition that reflects the broad concern over a pressing 21st century childhood safety issue.
While the settlement is a landmark resolution to those cases, many pieces are contingent upon other social media companies, including YouTube and TikTok, voluntarily implementing some of the settlement terms. About $5 billion of the total funds would only be paid if those platforms implement time limits and other age assurance measures, according to Meta.
Meta Chief Legal Officer C.J. Mahoney also urged those platforms to follow suit.
“The framework we’ve negotiated will empower parents to easily manage how their children access our platforms,” Mahoney said in a statement.
“Because teens move fluidly across dozens of apps, we need an industrywide solution,” Mahoney said.
“We therefore call on our industry peers, TikTok and YouTube, to implement this new framework, right away.”
Meta has denied wrongdoing, and its lobbyists have gone to Congress seeking immunity from cases alleging it harmed children.
Mayes compared the case to the massive settlements in the 1990s with tobacco manufacturers following claims the companies misled the public about the health risks of smoking. She said she wanted Arizona’s share of the settlement payout to support counseling in schools and nonprofits that combat the teen mental health crisis. The settlement says Mayes “shall have sole discretion as to how and when restitution funds are distributed.”
The newly announced settlement is the latest domino to fall for Meta, which has faced a flood of lawsuits from families and states alleging its platforms are addictive and harm children’s mental health. Similar lawsuits have been brought against Google, TikTok and other social media companies.
But there were two bellwethers for Meta ahead of the Aug. 26 settlement. A jury in New Mexico in March found the social media giant liable in a similar case arguing the platforms endangered children. It was the first time a state had won at trial against a major tech company for its impacts to youth health and safety, and Meta has been ordered to pay $942 million in fines as a result.
And a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Alphabet, the parent company of Google, negligent in a $6 million verdict in March.
Reporting by Stacey Barchenger, Arizona Republic
