Knudsen Secures Largest Big Tech Settlement In History

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen has announced a landmark settlement agreement with Meta Platforms, Inc. for intentionally designing Facebook and Instagram to be addictive to minors and for misleading the public about the safety of its platforms. Montana has the potential to receive $127 million from the settlement and is guaranteed to receive $89 million.

In 2021, Knudsen launched an investigation into Meta for engaging in conduct harmful to young users of Meta social media platforms. The investigation found that Meta misled the public by concealing its extensive internal research showing the signifi cant mental health and other harms that young users on its platforms are at substantial risk of suffering. Meta also made multiple false and misleading public statements about the safety of its platforms and its commitment to well-being related products and features. In addition, evidence showed that Meta unfairly designed Facebook and Instagram to be addictive to children under the age of 18. Meta targeted its products at kids because the company knew kids were highly susceptible to compulsive use of social media platforms due to their reward-seeking behaviors and developmentally limited capacity for self-control.

Following the investigation, Knudsen filed a lawsuit against the company for violating Montana’s consumer protection laws. As part of the settlement Montana is guaranteed to receive $88,962,843 of the total settlement which resolves claims by 47 other States along with D.C., Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Montana has the potential to receive $127,305,996 of the up to $17,100,000,000 if other conditions are met.

“This settlement agreement is the culmination of years of hard work to hold Meta accountable for their dangerous and deceptive practices that put the health and well-being of Montana kids at risk,” Knudsen said. “I’m glad Meta has taken responsibility and I hope other social media companies will follow suit. This settlement money will be put to good use to improve safety and mental health resources for kids and teens in the state. As attorney general, I will continue to protect the safety and rights of all Montanans.”

At least half of the money must go to remediate harms caused by social media such as:

• Crisis intervention services, specifically the expansion and operation of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and text-based youth crisis lines.

• After school or summer programs, such as sports, literacy, dance and other activities.

• Public health advertising credits.

• A digital wellness public education fund.

• Funding outdoor activities.

• Youth mental health programming.

• Support the hiring of digital literacy counselors or implement phone-free school zones.

• Training for medical providers on interactive media use and body dysmorphia.

• Grants to school districts or other local government entities to accomplish any remedial purpose encompassed here.

• Any similar remedial or restitutive purposes as those described above; and

• Investigation, litigation and related efforts to improve teen safety on social media.

Additionally, the settlement requires Meta to implement a series of safety features on Instagram and Facebook, including:

• Hard cap daily time limits and “Productive 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. These limits remain in effect for five years. If Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube adopt comparable terms, the daily limit on each platform will drop to 60 minutes for 10 years.

• “Nighttime blocks” restricting children’s access from midnight to 6 a.m.

• Limited school-time access for children, eliminating push notifications on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. during the school year.

• Robust age assurance measures to more effectively verify the age of young users.

• Safer, age-appropriate content controls, including stronger safeguards against bullying, content promoting eating disorders, and content related to suicide and self-harm.

• Stronger, more user- friendly parental controls.

• Limits on social comparison features, including beauty filters and visible “like” counts, that have been linked to poor mental health outcomes in kids and teens.

Both the implementation and efficacy of the features will be regularly assessed by an independent auditor and the settling states.

Montana also resolved its claims against Meta for Meta’s sharing of nonpublic information about Facebook users with third parties, like Cambridge Analytica, leading up to the 2016 election. Montana will receive an additional $4.3 million under that settlement agreement.