From The Verge · Emma Roth · · 1m 10s
Meta's $9.89 billion child safety bill
Meta's third-quarter earnings reveal the cost of its settlement with US attorneys general over child safety claims.
In brief
Meta's third-quarter earnings reveal the cost of its settlement with US attorneys general over child safety claims. Meta paid nine point eighty-nine billion dollars in its third quarter toward a child safety settlement with US attorneys general, reducing reported operating income by nearly ten billion dollars…
Meta's settlement bill comes due
Meta paid nine point eighty-nine billion dollars in its third quarter toward a child safety settlement with US attorneys general, according to its earnings report released Wednesday.
The original settlement terms
In August, Meta agreed to pay seventeen point one billion dollars to settle a lawsuit claiming the company made its platforms addictive by design and harmed children.
What the settlement cost operating income
Meta's income from operations would have been twenty-two point eighty-nine billion dollars without the settlement payment. Total costs and expenses reached fifty-one point sixty-one billion dollars including the settlement amount.
“We hit major milestones this quarter toward delivering personal superintelligence for everyone. Our investments are paying off, the core business is strong, and we're seeing velocity across the board.”
More legal costs ahead
Despite the settlement costs, Meta reported sixty-four point sixty billion dollars in revenue, a twenty-six percent increase year-on-year.A New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay twenty-five billion dollars over the Cambridge Analytica scandal on Wednesday.
The takeaway
Meta paid nine point eighty-nine billion dollars in its third quarter toward a child safety settlement with US attorneys general, reducing reported operating income by nearly ten billion dollars.
