Meta has reached an $18 billion settlement with 48 US states, the District of Columbia, and three US territories to resolve allegations that Facebook and Instagram harmed children. A California judge approved the agreement, which represents the company’s largest payment in child safety litigation. The settlement requires Meta to distribute the funds over a 10-year period and includes numerous platform changes designed to protect younger users.
The case originated in 2023 when 29 states filed a lawsuit alleging Meta violated federal and state child privacy laws. During the brief jury trial in Oakland, California, state attorneys presented internal Meta documents including research, employee communications, and messages involving chief executive Mark Zuckerberg. One piece of research noted that “Teens have an addict’s narrative about use,” and prosecutors argued the company knowingly targeted young users despite having millions of 11- and 12-year-old account holders. A former Meta researcher testified that his safety-focused team was told it existed “partially to protect the company against the upcoming lawsuits.”
Under the settlement terms, Meta must implement several protective features for teenage users. These include a default two-hour daily time limit across Instagram and Facebook that only parents can disable, a “night mode” blocking notifications between midnight and 6am, and a “school mode” muting alerts during school hours. Additional requirements include hidden likes on teen profiles, prompts tracking continuous and cumulative usage, non-algorithm-driven feed options, disabled autoplay, and removal of extreme makeup filters. The daily time limit could reduce to one hour if competing platforms like TikTok, Snap, and YouTube adopt similar restrictions.
State officials characterized the agreement as a significant public health outcome. California Attorney General Rob Bonta stated the settlement represents “a major moment to clean up an industry that has been hurting our kids” and urged other social media companies to adopt comparable safety measures. Meta’s legal officer called the framework empowering for parents, while company leaders argued they have consistently invested in teen safety research and features. New Mexico did not participate in this settlement but secured a separate historic ruling labeling Meta a “public nuisance” with nearly $1 billion in fines.
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