Meta agrees to pay $16.7 billion to several states in case concerning kids' social media addiction

Meta has reached a historic settlement with several U.S. states, to which it will pay $16.7 billion to settle a lawsuit in which it is accused of fostering social media addiction among kids.

The tech giant, which owns Facebook and Instagram, also agreed to make significant changes to restrict young people's access to its products, according to a document released Wednesday that must be approved by a federal judge in Oakland, Calif.

"Meta has agreed to make massive transformations that will reduce the risk of harm from its platforms -- and will do it within months," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.

He called the outcome "real change, real transparency, and real enforceable protections for children."

Meta has therefore committed to preventing children and teenagers from using its apps at night and imposing a limit of two cumulative hours of daily use.

Meta was accused of deliberately designing its platforms to attract young users, misleading the public about the risks and illegally collecting data from children under the age of 13.

With more than 3 billion users worldwide, Meta faced allegations from a coalition of 29 states claiming it violated federal and state laws.

If Meta lost the case, it faced penalties of approximately $200 billion.

The lawsuit was filed in a court in Oakland, a city neighboring San Francisco.