Last week, when Meta went on trial over allegations that Facebook and Instagram were designed to addict kids, I hunkered down for weeks of testimony from executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Just eight days later, it was over. On Wednesday, Meta agreed to settle for up to $18 billion, cutting short a trial in which four states were seeking roughly $200 billion, and keeping Zuckerberg off the witness stand.
The settlement is historic — the largest that a Big Tech company has ever paid to states.
It’s also easy money for Meta. Meta’s payouts to the states will happen over an entire decade in guaranteed annual installments of roughly $1.17…
