Meta agrees $18bn social media settlement

**Will Chalk** (0:00)
This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.
I'm Will Chalk, and in the early hours of Thursday, the 27th of August, these are our main stories. Meta agrees to a multi-billion dollar settlement over claims brought by a number of US states that its social media platforms harm children. The world's most valuable company, Nvidia, which creates microchips for AI, sees a boom in revenue.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:26)
Plus, they started shooting indiscriminately. If you run into a room, they set the room on fire. If you come out and start running, they shoot you.

**Will Chalk** (0:36)
How bandits are running rampage and terrorizing residents in northwest Nigeria.
Also in this podcast, rescue teams work through the night to locate survivors of the devastating flash floods that hit northern Nepal and Tibet, killing nearly 200 people. And we'll look back at the life of one of the leading figures in Palestinian art, Sliman Mansour.
$18 billion. The amount Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has agreed to pay a group of US states that had accused it of harming children. The company's also agreed to bring in changes to better protect young people. Crucially, though, as part of this deal, the company has admitted no wrongdoing. And the deal also brings to an end early, a high-profile trial in California, in which lawyers for the states were arguing that Meta knew millions of 11- and 12-year-olds used their sites but did little to keep them off. Our North America correspondent, Lily Jamali, sent this report from the Federal Courthouse in Oakland, California.

**Lily Jamali** (1:42)
Multiple states had sued Meta, alleging it deliberately designed its platforms to be addictive, then misled the public about how problematic apps like Instagram and Facebook are for young users. The company had also been accused of improperly harvesting the data of young users without parental consent. California's Attorney General, Rob Bonta, described the settlement as a watershed moment.

**Rob Bonta** (2:03)
This is a significant victory for families across the country, for parents, for children. This is a major breakthrough, a milestone moment, a watershed moment. We believe the proposed settlement filed today addresses some of the concerns at the core of our lawsuit and that it will force transformative changes necessary to protect our children. And importantly, these changes will be made within months.

**Lily Jamali** (2:27)
As part of this settlement, the company is set to pay up to $17.1 billion.
It's also agreeing to a framework for change, including two-hour daily limits for teens on their apps, as well as night mode and school mode, with muted notifications during those times. Meta has not accepted any wrongdoing as part of this settlement. Matthew Bergman is a lawyer who represented a young woman who won a case against the company earlier this year.

**Matthew Bergman** (2:52)
Their actions in agreeing to this monumental financial amount, but even more importantly, agreeing to make common sense changes to its design to make it safer for kids speaks volumes in terms of their accountability and their acknowledgement of their role in contributing to the youth mental health crisis.

**Lily Jamali** (3:11)
But this settlement is a first step. The company wants to see competitors, including Google's YouTube and TikTok, agree to daily time limits as well. They don't want to be at a competitive disadvantage.

**Will Chalk** (3:22)
Lily Jamali there. Now, this settlement comes after years of campaigning from parents around safety on social media platforms. Amy Neville is the co-founder of Social Media Victims Remembrance Day.

**Amy Neville** (3:34)
This is historic. This is a really big moment. But let's not give Meta credit for these changes. They certainly did not volunteer to make any design changes. This is being forced upon them. That's been brought to court by 29 AGs.
There's no apology with this. And this is the beginning of the fight. We're still in the early stages of this fight. This is definitely not the end of the fight for accountability. We lost our son Alexander in June of 2020 to fentanyl poisoning after being groomed by drug dealer on Snapchat. But going back to this case, how are predators still not going to reach our kids? That part's not clear. We're talking about the addictive design features that they're going to fix, supposedly, which we'll need to go through rigorous testing to really see if they amount to anything. But what's going to keep the predators away from our kids?

**Will Chalk** (4:19)
Let's get the perspective of Arturo Bejar, a former Meta insider who turned whistleblower because he was concerned about the company's handling of child safety.
During his time at the social media firm, he worked to combat cyberbullying. So what does he think of this settlement?