Meta pays $18B to make the 'we addicted your kids' lawsuit go away
Meta just agreed to pay up to $18 billion to settle claims from 29 states accusing it of deliberately designing Instagram and Facebook to hook kids, and of vacuuming up children's data without parental consent in violation of COPPA. Meta isn't admitting guilt, but ducking a jury trial says plenty. In classic pivot fashion, Meta is now publicly daring YouTube and TikTok to adopt the same teen safety standards it just got sued into.
Nothing says 'we did nothing wrong' like writing a $18 billion check to make the lawyers go home.