Meta同意支付170亿美元和解未成年人伤害诉讼

AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening. I'm Amna Nawaz. GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett. On the "News Hour" tonight: Meta agrees to a multibillion-dollar settlement over claims that its social media platforms are harming children. AMNA NAWAZ: How the construction and enormous energy consumption of data centers are increasingly playing into the midterm elections. GEOFF BENNETT: Survivors of the devastating Maui wildfires face persistent health struggles three years later.

RUBEN JUAREZ, University of Hawaii: People in the lower-income brackets are definitely the ones who are -- who we are seeing right now and are the most affected. AMNA NAWAZ: And Martina McBride remembers her friend and fellow country music icon Dolly Parton. (BREAK) AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour." Social media giant Meta has agreed to pay up to $17 billion in a settlement, putting to rest a trial where dozens of states accuse the company of deliberately endangering children through their platforms.

GEOFF BENNETT: The parent company of Facebook and Instagram has agreed to implement new digital guardrails for minors. The company says it will enforce a two-hour daily time limit for users under 18 years old, implement a nighttime block on the apps from midnight to 6:00 a.m., mute notifications and restrict usage during school hours. They're also asking other social platforms to do the same. C.J. MAHONEY, Chief Legal Officer, Meta: The framework we have negotiated will empower parents to easily manage their children's access to our platforms.

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. We therefore call on our industry peers, TikTok and YouTube, to implement this new framework right away. GEOFF BENNETT: The settlement signals a turning point for the social media industry, but Meta still faces multiple lawsuits from school districts and individuals. We're joined now by Colorado attorney General Phil Weiser.

Welcome to the "News Hour." Thanks for being with us. PHIL WEISER (D), Colorado Attorney General: Great to be with you, Geoff. GEOFF BENNETT: So Colorado is one of the principal states that brought this suit, and you accused Meta of knowingly designing products that hooked children and that put profits ahead of their well-being. You finally got Meta to trial. Why settle now, rather than let a jury decide whether Meta broke the law?

PHIL WEISER: We obtained the type of protections, and you outlined them very well, protecting kids' ability (AUDIO GAP) protecting kids' ability to concentrate in school, limiting total time on the platform, removing harmful features, like what's happening right now. And it's not going to wait for years in appeal. So given that this case was always about protecting kids and getting these protections in place, we took this remedy as the best way to protect kids.

GEOFF BENNETT: Do two-hour time limits, mandatory breaks, nighttime restrictions, do that -