Meta Agrees to $16.7 Billion Settlement Over Youth SNS Addiction Lawsuit

[Anchor]

Meta, the world's largest social media company, has agreed to pay a massive settlement of 23 trillion won in the United States over allegations that it induced youth social media addiction. The company has also unveiled stringent measures to limit teenagers' social media use to two hours a day.

Reporting from New York, this is correspondent Kim Hyunwoo.

[Reporter]

In 2023, 47 U.S. state governments, including California, filed a lawsuit against Meta—the operator of Facebook and Instagram—accusing the company of designing algorithms that addict teenagers to social media while failing to warn users of the associated risks.

On the 26th local time, following three years of legal battles, Meta agreed to pay up to $16.7 billion, which translates to approximately 23.1 trillion won.

Parents whose children took their own lives due to the impact of social media have spearheaded the efforts to raise this issue.

[Victoria Hinks / Victim's Mother: I stand here hoping that my daughter's short 16 years of life were not in vain. I finally feel like proper action has been taken today.]

The settlement also includes strengthened child protection measures.

Moving forward, teenagers will only be able to use Facebook and Instagram for up to two hours a day, and access to social media will be completely blocked during late-night hours.

Teen accounts will no longer feature continuous content recommendations driven by artificial intelligence, and users will be prevented from seeing reactions like "likes" on posts.

Additionally, the use of photo filters that make users look like they are wearing makeup or have undergone plastic surgery will be blocked to minimize factors that could negatively impact mental health.

[Rob Bonta / California Attorney General: This settlement is a massive achievement and a historic turning point. We have no time to waste when it comes to protecting the mental health of our children.]

Meta urged other companies, including YouTube and TikTok, to join in protecting teenagers.

This settlement, set to be implemented in the U.S., is more robust than the youth protection policies currently applied by Meta in South Korea, drawing keen attention to whether this agreement will influence policies in other countries as well.

(Camera Reporter: Lee Hee-hoon, Video Editor: Cho Mu-hwan)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.