More or Less · Topics · Episode #164
Meta's $17B Settlement: Nothing Burger or Smart Way Out?
Clip from the full recording, 6:38–12:14 · download mp4 · watch at this point on YouTube
Meta settles with 47 state AGs for $17 billion over ten years plus teen screen-time limits. Dave calls it a slap on the wrist and says social media should be illegal under 21; Sam calls it a clever way to close the chapter and move on to being an AI company.
Jess lays out the deal: a $17 billion settlement with 47 states and other entities over child-safety cases, paired with new limits (default two-hour daily cap across Instagram and Facebook that teens can only lift with a parent, hidden likes on teen profiles, school-hours notification mute, prompts at 15, 60 and 90 minutes of use, a non-algorithmic feed option, autoplay off, extreme makeup filters removed) and a campaign in which Meta positions itself as the gold standard and goads YouTube, Snap and TikTok to match. If they do, the cap drops to one hour and Meta pays more.
Dave’s reaction is that the money is de minimis for a company spending roughly two billion a quarter on legal, that Meta’s systems are optimized for engagement in a way he calls abusing children, and that the AGs could have taken it much further. Pushed by Sam on what he actually wants, he lands on “meaningful pain” and, more provocatively, that social media should be treated like alcohol and be illegal under 21. Sam immediately probes the definition problem: is Snap a messaging app or a social network, and what happens to the AOL Instant Messenger generation? Brit notes it’s $1.7 billion a year. Sam’s read is pragmatic: there are always emails you don’t want out, so you settle, give a pound of flesh, and move on; the real cost is in the limits, not the check.
Key points
- Deal terms: $17B over ten years, default 2-hour teen cap (1 hour if TikTok, Snap and YouTube also sign on), hidden likes, school-mode mute, use prompts, algorithm-free feed option, autoplay off, no extreme makeup filters.
- Dave: a nothing burger. The money is nothing at Meta's scale and the AGs settled for far too little.
- Dave: social media should be illegal under 21, like alcohol; messaging apps are probably fine.
- Sam: the line between messaging and social is undefinable (Snap, group chats), and settlement is the logical move for any company with a discovery problem.
- Jess: the non-default options (algorithm-free feed, autoplay off) don't count; Dave: the devil is in the default.
- Sam liked Meta's move to publicly dare YouTube and the others to match.
Where they landed
Quotes
“It seems like a nothing burger to me. The amount of money is de minimis.”— Dave
“At this point I think we're probably in a zone where social media should just be illegal, similar to alcohol. Under 21.”— Dave
“There's like a bunch of emails you just don't want out, 'cause that's how these things work. You gotta settle, you gotta give 'em a pound of flesh.”— Sam
Suggested tweets
Meta just paid $17B over 10 years to settle with 47 state AGs. Dave: “a nothing burger.” Sam: the smartest move a discovery-scared company could make
Tweet this →“Social media should be illegal under 21 — like alcohol.” Dave Morin doesn’t hold back on Meta’s teen-safety settlement
Tweet this →The devil’s in the default: Meta’s algorithm-free feed and autoplay-off options already exist — you just have to go find them. Safety, or theater?
Tweet this →All topics · Full episode #164 + transcript · Subscribe on YouTube · Spotify