FRANKFORT, Ky. — Attorney General Russell Coleman announced a proposed $17.1 billion multistate settlement with Meta, the parent company to Facebook and Instagram.
Kentucky joined California, Colorado and New Jersey in the suit, which was brought in an effort to make social media platforms safer for children across the country, according to a news release from Coleman's office. Under the terms of the settlement, Kentucky will receive $358 million; however, the terms are subject to court approval.
Meta agreed to implement widespread safety features to protect children on its platforms.
"The agreement resolves claims by 48 other states and D.C., Guam and Puerto Rico that the company designed Instagram and its products with addictive features, knowingly exposed young users to serious mental harms, and intentionally misled the public about the safety of its platforms," a release read.
"While Meta is certainly paying for its conduct, this was never just about the money," Coleman said in a statement. "Kids deserve a childhood that isn't measured in likes and followers. The online protections delivered by this settlement will bring a generational change that will make platforms safer for Kentucky families."
Under the terms, Meta is required to implement "immediate changes on Facebook and Instagram," including:
- Time limits and "Protective Pauses" for children: for its two platforms, Instagram and Facebook, a combined two-hour daily time limit with mandatory pauses after 15 minutes of continuous use and again at 60 and 90 minutes to interrupt endless scrolling.
- "Nighttime blocks" restricting children's access from midnight to 6 a.m.
- Limited school time access for children, eliminating push notifications on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the school year.
- Robust age assurance measures to more effectively verify the age of young users.
- Safer, age-appropriate controls, including stronger safeguards against bullying, content promoting eating disorders, and content related to suicide and self-harm.
- Stronger, more user-friendly parental controls.
Coleman's office says that most changes will be in effect for 10 years, explaining that success of the features will be regularly assessed by an independent auditor and the settling states.
According to the Attorney General's office, Kentucky will also receive nearly $7.5 million from Meta to settle its investigation regarding Cambridge Analytica.
"I'm pleased to announce that Meta has reached an agreement with a bipartisan group of state attorneys general from around the country on a new set of rules governing teens' use of social media," Meta Chief Legal Officer C.J. Mahoney said in a statement. "The framework we've negotiated will empower parents to easily manage how their children access our platforms. Our new Time Limit commitments, Night Mode features and usage limits during school hours set the right path forward for our whole industry, but this framework will only work if all our peers join us.
"Because teens move fluidly across dozens of apps, we need an industry wide solution. We therefore call on our industry peers TikTok and YouTube, to implement this new framework, right away. As a parent, I'm proud of both the work Meta has done to protect kids historically and of this new groundbreaking agreement. But its success depends on all other social media platforms following Meta's lead," the statement continued.