Meta has agreed an $18bn settlement with 29 US states over claims that Facebook and Instagram harmed children, but the author argues the deal does little to curb the company’s wider power. Meta’s rising share price after the announcement is presented as evidence that investors consider the settlement manageable and that the company has avoided a more damaging court judgment or finding of liability.

The settlement includes default safety measures, restricted overnight and school-day access, a two-hour daily cap and less prominent display of likes, but these measures apply only in the US and may be easy to circumvent. The $18bn will be paid over 10 years, is less than a month of Meta’s revenue, and nearly a third depends on TikTok and YouTube accepting similar restrictions; former safety engineer Arturo Béjar said Meta knew of harmful experiences reported by young users but publicly denied the scale of the problem.