CHEYENNE, WY — Wyoming will receive a $13,303,734 payment from Meta after the tech giant settled a 47‑state lawsuit for roughly $17 billion. The settlement, described by Attorney General Keith Kautz as the largest big‑tech settlement in history, includes new safety features for minors on Instagram and Facebook.

State Benefits and New Safety Measures

The settlement requires Meta to implement hard‑capped two‑hour daily scrolling limits for minors, with additional “productive” pauses after 15, 60 and 90 minutes of continuous use. Night‑time blocks will block scrolling for users aged 12‑17 between midnight and 6 a.m., and school‑time access will be limited during the academic year. Other changes restrict comparison tools such as beauty filters and like counts, and strengthen parental and age‑appropriate content controls.

These features will remain in effect for five years, after which the daily limit will be reduced to one hour per app. The Attorney General’s office said the measures are intended to curb the mental‑health harms that internal Meta documents showed were affecting children.

Why the Settlement Matters for Wyoming Families

“We are thrilled to announce this settlement with Meta, given that it will provide tangible relief to kids in Wyoming, as well as nationwide, through the safety features Meta will be required to implement,” Kautz said. He emphasized that while Meta is only one player in a broader problem, the agreement represents a historic first step in protecting youth mental health.

Wyoming’s share of the settlement will be used for programs that benefit children across the state. Larger states such as California, Colorado and Wisconsin will receive $1.5 billion, $615 million and $219 million respectively over the next decade.

National Context

The bipartisan effort began in 2021 when attorney generals from across the country opened investigations into the social‑media industry. They found that Meta had designed Instagram and Facebook to be habit‑forming for children while documenting the resulting mental‑health harms and failing to warn parents.

Beyond the financial payout, the settlement also resolves claims that Meta shared nonpublic user information with third parties, including the data‑broker firm tied to the 2016 election.

Many states are now urging other platforms—TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube—to adopt similar protections, aiming to reshape how minors interact with social media nationwide.

Original reporting: Oil City News (Casper WY) — read the source article.