Meta Settlement Puts Age Assurance and Under-13 Removal Under an Independent Auditor

Meta must run what California calls robust age assurance to detect users under 18, identify and remove children under 13, and open those practices to an independent auditor, under a settlement proposed on Wednesday.

The auditor gets expansive access to information and resources, must report regularly and can raise concerns directly with the attorneys general, according to the office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who announced the deal alongside a bipartisan coalition of 51 attorneys general. Meta is also subject to an injunction barring further false or misleading statements about its safety features. The settlement needs court approval through entry of a consent judgment.

Bonta puts the money at up to $17 billion to the states over ten years, with California receiving $1.5 billion to $2.1 billion. Coverage has varied, with CNBC reporting $16.7 billion and Engadget up to $18 billion, depending on which contingent portions are counted.

Several operating terms depend on Meta knowing how old a user is. Under-18s get a default two-hour daily limit and an overnight block from midnight to 6am, both liftable only by a parent. Notifications are off by default from 10pm to 7am and during the school day, defined as 8am to 3pm from August 15 to June 15. If other platforms agree to similar terms, the daily limit drops to one hour and the block widens to 10pm to 7am.

Meta framed that condition as an industry question. “These protections will only be truly effective if we work with our peers, TikTok and YouTube, to put the same measures in place,” the company said. Engadget reported that about $5.3 billion of the payment turns on those two matching the amount and adopting age assurance of their own.

The 2023 lawsuit alleged Meta illegally collected and used data on children under 13, designed its platforms to drive excessive use, and lied about the safety of Facebook and Instagram, breaching the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and two California statutes. Trial began on August 18 in the Northern District of California.

Texas settled separately the same day for more than $1 billion, in an action outside the multistate case. Attorney General Ken Paxton said it requires stricter age verification alongside a two-hour teen limit, notifications off during school hours and a nighttime mode. Paxton took $1.4 billion from Meta in 2024 over unauthorised use of biometric data.

Legislatures have been reaching similar duties by statute. New Zealand put an age assurance duty on platforms in a bill this month, Singapore said it will require stronger age checks, and the UK has built age assurance into a planned under-16 ban.

Sources: California Attorney General, Engadget, Texas Tribune

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By Cass Kennedy