Meta to implement major platform changes following historic legal settlement

Meta is about to make dramatic changes to Instagram and Facebook as part of a historic legal settlement.

The company has been sued by 29 state attorneys general in the US, who accused it of knowingly damaging the mental wellbeing of the young people who use its platforms.

Now, Meta has agreed to settle that case, though it has not admitted any wrongdoing. That settlement includes a huge fine against the company – and deep changes to how it operates its platforms.

As part of the settlement, Meta will pay at least $12.1 billion to resolve the lawsuits. It may be forced to pay another $5 billion – taking the total settlement to $17.1 billion – depending on future action against other social media companies.

But the same settlement also requires Meta to bring new blocks, features and changes to Instagram and Facebook that are designed to limit the harm they could do to children. Some of the same changes could come to other platforms – such as Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube – in the future.

Here are the biggest changes that Meta has agreed to make across its platforms to settle the case:

All of the changes will be assessed by an independent auditor, to ensure that Meta is implementing them as required. That process will be overseen by the 29 states that brought the legal action.