Meta settles states' child-safety claims for $18B; Florida rejects deal as “peanuts”
Summary
Ars Technica reports Meta agreed to an $18 billion multi-state settlement over child-safety concerns on its platforms, including a default two-hour daily limit for under-18 users, a midnight-to-6am block, and a school-mode. The time spent across Facebook and Instagram counts toward these limits. Florida rejected the deal as insufficient, while California will receive the largest share and Texas struck a separate $1 billion settlement; the package also includes age-verification, an independent auditor, and stricter reporting on harmful content.