The Guardian's editorial argues that Meta has escaped serious consequences despite an $18bn settlement reached last week with US states and territories over allegations it knowingly designed addictive, harmful products for children. While welcoming new child safety measures, the piece contends the deal lets Meta avoid admitting liability, sidesteps scrutiny of executives and whistleblowers, and leaves the company's core algorithms and addictive design largely untouched, meaning the wider societal harms of its business model remain unaddressed.

The settlement, to be paid over ten years, includes changes such as making safety features "opt-out" rather than "opt-in", giving parents control over algorithmic feeds for young users, a two-hour daily usage limit, night-time and school-hours restrictions, mandatory age verification, and the removal of harmful "social comparison" tools like cosmetic surgery filters. However, the editorial notes the sum is trivial next to Meta's planned $145bn investment this year, that the "digital age of consent" remains at 13, and that the measures fall short of stricter rules already adopted or planned in Australia, the UK, Malaysia, Indonesia and the EU. It also highlights unresolved cases alleging Meta's algorithms contributed to violence abroad, including in Ethiopia and against the Rohingya in Myanmar, arguing these global harms remain unaddressed by the US settlement.