BETTENDORF — Iowa plans to hire prosecutors and investigators and fund new technology tools from a $126 million settlement with tech giant Meta.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird was in Bettendorf Wednesday for an unrelated event as news broke of an up to $17.1 billion settlement reached with Meta in a multi-state lawsuit over claims that its platforms, such as Instagram and Facebook, were designed to addict children and teens. The settlement resolves a trial over whether the platforms caused harm and whether the companies misled the public about the platforms’ safety.
Iowa is guaranteed to receive $126 million in the settlement, in 10 installments, according to a news release from Bird’s office. Meta also agreed to pay Iowa $9 million to settle separate claims for sharing Facebook users’ information with third parties.
At least half of the settlement funds, which would be paid over several years, must be used for mitigating harms caused by the platforms, Bird told reporters in Bettendorf on Wednesday.
"This is a massive win for keeping kids safe," Bird said. "Kids these days have such a hard time with social media and technology, and we want to make sure that they have the tools they need to keep them safe."
That could include hiring prosecutors and investigators, and funding technology tools and other lawsuits against tech companies, Bird said. Iowa has also joined lawsuits against Roblox and TikTok.
New technology could do data analysis or flag posts. Bird said she also wants to help educate parents.
"I also want to do everything I can to help parents understand how to parent in an age of social media and technology, whether it's screen time limits or the age at which a child would have access to a device, whatever that might be, we want parents to have all of that information," Bird said.
Also as part of the lawsuit, Meta will strictly limit how teenagers use Facebook and Instagram.
Meta agreed to implement a daily two-hour time limit for children on Facebook and Instagram, with mandatory pauses after 15 minutes of continuous use and again at 60 and 90 minutes to interrupt endless scrolling.
The limits remain in effect for five years, and if Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube adopt similar restrictions, the daily limit on each platform will drop to 60 minutes for 10 years for children and teenagers.
The agreement restricts children's access from midnight to 6 a.m. and eliminates push notifications on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the school year. It strengthens age verification and safeguards against content promoting bullying, eating disorders, suicide and self-harm.
Bird noted that the lawsuit limits beauty filters and visible "like" counts.
"One major victory that is a part of this settlement is Facebook and Instagram have agreed not to use plastic surgery filters for kids," Bird said. "Before, kids as young as 13 could have access to that. It caused a lot of body image issues, a lot of problems with depression, anxiety, even self-harm."
Reuters contributed to this report.