A Historic Settlement Over Social Media Addiction

On Wednesday, Meta, the world's biggest social media company, reached a multi-billion dollar legal settlement over claims that its technology, including Instagram and Facebook, are addictive and a danger to children. This agreement changes what young people will experience when they open their apps. The company agreed to impose sweeping new limits on how kids use its products.

Today, Business reporter Cecilia Kang discusses why a company and an industry that never backs down finally cut a deal, and whether or not this truly marks a new era of accountability for Big Tech.

The Landmark Settlement

Cecilia Kang describes this as a really big deal, a landmark settlement between Meta and nearly every state. It's about a pretty novel legal theory: social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube are addictive, like cigarettes or opioids. This was a new argument presented in court starting this year, hinging on the idea that the company has harmed users by presenting one picture of its platforms as quite safe and healthy for young users, whereas internally, the company knew differently. It was grappling with platforms and technologies that could be harmful for users. Kang notes that this reminds her a lot of the case made against tobacco companies, who were telling the public one thing when they knew something else. At the heart of this is consumer deception: if the company deceived its users about the true nature of its product.