If Meta’s going down, it’s taking TikTok and YouTube with it

Meta might be on the hook for $17.1 billion and a host of app changes under a new kids safety settlement, but it’s already spinning the deal to its advantage. After years of being the national punching bag for social media harms, Meta has reached a settlement with 47 US states and several districts and territories that gives it a rare opportunity: A chance to flex on its rivals.

By AI NewsroomPublished about 12 hours agoUpdated 15 minutes ago1 views

If Meta’s going down, it’s taking TikTok and YouTube with it

Why It Matters

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Key Facts

Fact 1: Meta might be on the hook for $17.1 billion and a host of app changes under a new kids safety settlement, but it’s already spinning the deal to its advantage.
Fact 2: After years of being the national punching bag for social media harms, Meta has reached a settlement with 47 US states and several districts and territories that gives it a rare opportunity: A chance to flex on its rivals.
Fact 3: While Meta will have to pay at least $12 billion to the signing states no matter what (so long as a court approves the deal), the rest of the money is contingent upon changes from three “Core Industry Members”: Snap, TikTok, and YouTube.
Fact 4: The multibillion-dollar contingency payment will only be triggered if all three institute some of the same limits Meta’s agreed to for its apps, like daily usage limits and disabling nighttime notifications by default, and the companies that make more than $10 billion in annual profits (TikTok and YouTube) enter settlements with the states for at least as much as Meta’s $5.3 billion contingency payment, “with half of the remaining funds tied to YouTube’s payment and half tied to TikTok’s,” according to Meta.

“We want to ensure teens benefit from this new industry standard, but we cannot do it alone,” Meta says in an “Open Letter” that is also running as a full-page ad in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Washington Post. “These protections will only be truly effective if we work with our peers — TikTok and YouTube — to put the same measures in place.” Snap (which is also named in the agreement), TikTok, and YouTube haven’t yet made a public statement on the settlement and did not respond to requests for comment. Meta has reached a settlement that gives it a rare opportunity: A chance to flex on its rivals By definition, settlements can only constrain the parties that sign them — in this case, Meta and the states.

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