Meta Pays $18B to Protect Kids Online | Charleston News

Meta’s paying $18 billion to fix the damage social media’s doing to kids — West Virginia gets $114 million — with half earmarked for mental health and the rest to be decided by lawmakers. The deal forces Meta to roll out strict new safety features: daily time limits, late-night blocks, school-hour notification bans, stronger age verification, parental controls, and less addictive design like hiding likes and limiting filters. A key goal? Letting teens opt out of algorithms so they see only real friends’ content — a throwback to Facebook’s simpler days. This landmark settlement aims to hold tech giants accountable and create safer digital spaces for the next generation. Listen in comfort:Get a discount on a Soli Pillow: http://solipillow.com/discount/dnn. Advertise on DNN:[email protected] This is an automated, high-level news summary based on public reporting.Report issues to [email protected]. View sources & latest updates:https://sources.thednn.ai/445b646a98582c49