Don’t praise Meta ‘for what the court orders them to do’: Meta will only pay the full $17.1 billion settlement if TikTok and YouTube match it

Meta is not actually committing to pay the $17.1 billion figure attached to this week’s child safety settlement, at least not on its own.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose office led the case, put the settlement at “up to $17 billion,” saying Meta “must make massive transformations that will reduce the risk of harm from its platforms—and will do it within months.” His release cited Meta’s own guaranteed figure of $12.7 billion.

The District of Columbia’s attorney general, Brian Schwalb, put the guaranteed floor at $12.1 billion, with an additional $5 billion contingent on other platforms joining, for a $17.1 billion total.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong’s release cited yet another figure, $12.19 billion guaranteed, and named the contingency pool: “TikTok, YouTube, and Snapchat, each facing state enforcement actions and investigations,” must agree to “comparable safety terms and monetary relief” before Meta owes the rest.

“To TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat,” Tong said, “our expectations are clear.

You’re next.” None of the three states’ own releases agree on the guaranteed number to the dollar, and Tong’s is the only one who names Snap alongside TikTok and YouTube as a condition of the payout.

Meta’s accounting got to the same place with slightly different numbers: a $18 billion total, 70% ($12.7 billion) guaranteed, 30% ($5.3 billion) released only if TikTok and YouTube each adopt a one-hour daily time limit, night mode, and age assurance measures matching Meta’s, and each pays a matching share.

Meta even paired the number with a public campaign aimed at those rivals, posting an open letter the same day the settlement was announced.

In a statement to Fortune, Chief Legal Officer C.J.

Mahoney said the deal was bigger than a legal resolution.

“I’m pleased to announce that Meta has reached an agreement with a bipartisan group of state attorneys general from around the country on a new set of rules governing teens’ use of social media,” Mahoney said.

“Our new Time Limit commitments, Night Mode features, and usage limits during school hours set the right path forward for our whole industry, but this framework will only work if all our peers join us.” “Because teens move fluidly across dozens of apps, we need an industry-wide solution,” Mahoney continued.

“We therefore call on our industry peers, TikTok and YouTube, to implement this new framework, right away.

As a parent, I’m proud of both the work Meta has done to protect kids historically, and of this new groundbreaking agreement.