Meta has reached an agreement with most US states to settle accusations that its applications, Facebook and Instagram, were intentionally designed to cause addiction in children. Under the pact, the company must pay up to $18 billion (equivalent to about R$ 93 billion) over ten years and implement new restrictions aimed at teenagers.
Although the amount is significant, it does not affect the two core elements that generate the company's revenue: personalized feeds and targeted advertising. For investors, the possibility of avoiding a lengthy lawsuit appears to have been a more decisive factor than the compensation amount.
This agreement ends Meta's main legal dispute in the US without imposing modifications on these operational mechanisms. Meta itself also denied any irregular practices. An additional risk was that a trial could reveal internal documents detailing how the company treated young users, a regulatory hurdle that the agreement eliminates, according to analysts and legal experts consulted by Reuters.
Meta's shares rose by approximately 1% after the announcement. Before the trial, the states were seeking penalties reaching $1.4 trillion (approximately R$ 7.21 trillion).
This decision reflects a corporate choice, as the cost of continuing the litigation and suffering a defeat would be higher than paying just over $1 billion annually for a decade.
Part of the agreement is conditional on the actions of other social networks. About 30% of the payment and certain restrictions for teenagers will only come into effect if TikTok, YouTube, and Snapchat agree to similar terms, which could create indirect pressure on these competitors. Eric Goldman, a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law, commented that he cannot imagine Meta's rivals being satisfied with the established measures.
The market showed varied reactions to the agreement. It stipulates usage limits for minors on the platforms and changes to certain features, including the removal of displaying like counts on posts. Internal documents leaked through leaks and lawsuits suggested that removing this count could decrease Meta's daily user base by about 0.09%.
The company was already under investigation in several countries due to allegations related to the use of its platforms by young people, and was also questioned about sexualized interactions between artificial intelligence chatbots and children. However, not all lawsuits in the US were covered by the agreement; New Mexico and Florida remained excluded.
In Europe, the European Commission threatens to fine Meta after a preliminary assessment indicated that the company violated a 2022 content moderation legislation. James Grimmelmann, a professor of law and digital information at Cornell University, emphasized that although the landmark trial has ended, the lawsuits against Meta are just beginning, concluding that the agreement resolves one of the company's biggest legal issues without interfering with the essential functioning of its business.