Meta $17 Billion Settlement Ends State Child Safety Lawsuits

Meta's chief legal officer C.J. Mahoney traveled to Nashville on August 6 as part of negotiations that ultimately led to a Meta $17.1 billion settlement with dozens of states over online child safety claims, according to The New York Times. The meeting came six days before a federal trial was set to begin in California, where a coalition of states had sued Meta, arguing it contributed to a national child mental health crisis.

Mahoney presented terms personally approved by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, offering to pay states up to $19 billion and make changes to its platforms to improve teen safety, with some payment withheld unless all states joined and other social media companies also settled. On Tuesday, 47 states, the District of Columbia and several territories agreed to a Meta social media settlement worth roughly $17 billion, the Times reported.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti told nearly all the state attorneys general in a meeting, "Pigs get fat, and hogs get slaughtered," encouraging them not to get greedy in negotiations. The Meta teen safety settlement is among the largest agreements between a company and a group of states embroiled in litigation.

Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, had long relied on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and First Amendment protections in child safety lawsuits. But a flood of suits filed since 2022 argued social media platforms were designed to be addictive, drawing comparisons to litigation against Big Tobacco in the 1990s.

Meta suffered setbacks in court this year, including a January trial in which a young plaintiff identified as K.G.M. testified that platform features like infinite scroll contributed to her anxiety and depression. A California Superior Court judge ruled the case concerned product liability rather than speech, rejecting Meta's Section 230 defense. Meta lost that case and a separate New Mexico consumer protection case within two days in March.

Meta and California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey were preparing for a summer trial in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Oakland, where states sought roughly $200 billion in penalties and platform changes. On July 22, Meta asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to throw out the addiction cases, invoking Section 230, in a last-ditch effort before the Oakland trial.

On Tuesday, every state signed the settlement except Texas, Florida and New Mexico, ending the Oakland trial. New Mexico had already won its case, and Meta settled separately with Texas on Wednesday for about $1 billion. California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the settlement showed that "Section 230 and the First Amendment are not impenetrable shields to holding Meta accountable."

Mahoney said the agreement's success "depends on all other social media platforms following Meta's lead." Meta still faces thousands of other suits from teenagers, families and school districts, with the next major personal injury trial scheduled for October. More information is available on Meta's official corporate site.

The Meta child safety lawsuit settlement follows related litigation covered in a separate report on the Meta California trial over child safety claims.