Meta Platforms has agreed to make significant changes to how Facebook and Instagram serve young users and pay up to $18 billion to settle claims brought by most U.S. states that the platforms were designed to encourage addictive use among children and that the company misled consumers about their safety.
The settlements, announced on Wednesday, bring to an end a federal trial that had become a major test of allegations that social media companies contribute to harm among young users.
Under the agreements, Meta will, for the next decade, restrict teenagers’ use of Facebook and Instagram to two hours a day and block access between midnight and 6 a.m., unless parents provide consent.
The company will also strengthen measures intended to prevent children from accessing age-restricted content.
The restrictions could become more stringent if other major social media companies adopt similar measures.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said the settlement would provide significant protections for children, describing the measures as broader than those previously ordered by courts.
Meta, which denied wrongdoing as part of the settlement, will not be required to fundamentally change its personalised recommendation systems or targeted advertising practices.
“Ensuring teens have a safe and productive experience on our platforms is an absolute imperative for Meta,” the company said in a statement. “We want to get this right for parents and teens.”
Billions In State Settlements
The agreements include more than $17.6 billion in payments to 48 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Meta will also pay $459 million to resolve state privacy claims linked to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which the British consulting firm obtained personal data from millions of Facebook users.
California is set to receive the largest payment at $2.2 billion, while New York and Texas will each receive more than $1 billion.
Part of the settlement is contingent on whether Alphabet’s YouTube and ByteDance’s TikTok introduce similar protections for children.
The settlement requires approval from U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who is overseeing the trial. The proceedings began on August 18, with Instagram head Adam Mosseri having started his testimony before the settlement was announced. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had been expected to testify.
Meta shares rose 1.4% in morning trading.
Broader Legal Pressure
The settlement comes as social media companies face thousands of lawsuits from states, local governments, school districts and individuals over allegations that their platforms contribute to a youth mental health crisis.
Meta, YouTube, TikTok and Snap’s Snapchat continue to face litigation alleging that they knowingly designed their platforms to encourage addictive use among children.
The case involved claims from California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey that Meta violated state consumer protection laws. Another 29 states alleged that Meta violated the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by knowingly collecting personal information from children without parental consent and using the data to train generative artificial intelligence systems.
Meta had argued that it could not have misled consumers because “social media addiction” was not recognised as a psychiatric condition.
Before the trial, Meta said the four states pursuing the consumer protection claims were seeking as much as $1.4 trillion in penalties, while the states put the potential figure closer to $200 billion.
Other Cases Remain
Wednesday’s agreements do not resolve all of Meta’s legal exposure over youth safety.
Meta still faces thousands of lawsuits brought by individuals, school districts and municipalities, with further trials scheduled for October in Los Angeles.
Earlier this year, Meta lost two phases of a landmark case brought by New Mexico over the safety of its platforms. A jury in March ordered the company to pay $375 million, while a judge on August 6 ordered an additional $567 million payment and imposed youth-safety measures after finding that Meta had created a public nuisance.
In March, a Los Angeles jury also found Meta and Alphabet’s Google negligent in designing their platforms and ordered the companies to pay $6 million to a woman who said she became addicted to Instagram and YouTube as a child and subsequently suffered anxiety and depression. Both companies have said they will appeal the verdicts.
Florida and New Mexico were not parties to Wednesday’s settlements.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said the state would continue pursuing its case against Meta, arguing that the settlement payments did not adequately address the alleged harm to children.
The agreements mark a significant regulatory and legal intervention into the way Meta manages young users on its platforms, while leaving its core recommendation and advertising systems largely intact.
