Agreement with Meta allocates $124.7 million to Puerto Rico, establishes protections for minors

By THE STAR STAFF

Justice Secretary Lourdes Gómez Torres announced on Wednesday that Puerto Rico will receive $124.7 million through a multistate agreement with Meta Platforms that will also require the company to modify the experience of minors on Instagram and Facebook.

“This is a legal milestone for Puerto Rico,” Gómez Torres stated in a written release. “Our lawsuit alleged that approximately 76 percent of children in Puerto Rico use Instagram and that more than two million residents use a Meta platform. Today, we have secured $124.7 million to address those harms and, more importantly, concrete and audited changes in how Instagram and Facebook treat our minors. I am committed to working in coordination with the Department of Health, ASSMCA [the Mental Health and Anti-Addiction Services Administration], and the Department of Education to ensure the well-being of our children using these funds.”

Puerto Rico will receive the $124.7 million in 10 installments and could obtain an additional $53.7 million if TikTok, YouTube and Snap adopt equivalent protections. At least half of the funds will be used to address the alleged harms to children and youth, in coordination with the aforementioned government agencies.

The agreement resolves the lawsuit filed by the island Justice Department on Dec. 19, 2024, in the San Juan Court of First Instance. The Office of Monopolistic Affairs alleged that Meta designed its platforms to encourage compulsive use among minors and misled the public regarding the potential effects on young people’s mental health.

Authorities in other jurisdictions also accused the company of collecting data on minors in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, known as COPPA.

According to a court document cited by EFE, Meta’s maximum payment as part of the agreement could reach $16.68 billion. A statement from the Department of Justice valued the multistate settlement at up to $19 billion.

The settlement would avert a federal trial in California consolidating claims from 29 states and still requires a judge’s approval. Meta agreed to the deal to avoid prolonged litigation but denied the allegations and admitted no liability.

The announcement came a day after Instagram head Adam Mosseri testified in the proceedings. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was also expected to testify during the trial.

Required changes include an age-verification system to identify teenagers and children under 13, with accuracy targets subject to evaluation. The company must also delete any detected accounts belonging to children under 13. An independent auditor will oversee compliance with those provisions for five years.

The agreement also establishes a default two-hour daily limit on content consumption across Meta platforms. That limit would drop to one hour per platform if the rest of the industry adopts the same conditions.

Requirements also include notifications after 15, 60, and 90 minutes of use; nighttime restrictions on notifications and general access; and a “school mode” to silence alerts during class hours. Direct messaging will remain available during nighttime restriction periods.

Provisions include options for non-algorithmic, non-autoplay content; mechanisms to detect secondary accounts; restrictions on filters that simulate cosmetic procedures; and additional parental supervision tools.

The Justice Department will submit the consent decree to the Court of First Instance in the coming days. The agency stated that it continues to evaluate the practices of other social media platforms regarding minors in Puerto Rico.