Meta has reached a proposed settlement worth up to approximately $18 billion with a bipartisan group of 52 US state attorneys general over allegations that Facebook and Instagram were deliberately designed to encourage compulsive use among children and teenagers.
The agreement, which still requires court approval, resolves a lawsuit filed in 2023 by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and attorneys general from across the political spectrum. The states accused Meta of designing features that encouraged excessive use among young people while misleading families and the public about the potential risks of its platforms.
The lawsuit also alleged that Meta illegally collected and used personal information belonging to children under 13, potentially violating federal and state laws including the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, California’s False Advertising Law and California’s Unfair Competition Law.
Under the proposed settlement, Meta would introduce several new restrictions for users under 18 on Facebook and Instagram. Teens would face a default two-hour daily usage limit, although parents would be able to disable the restriction. If YouTube and TikTok agree to comparable requirements, the limit would drop to one hour per day.
Meta would also prevent teens from using its apps between midnight and 6 a.m. by default. Most notifications would be muted between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., as well as during school hours. Parents would have the ability to modify some of these settings, while direct messages and certain safety and security alerts would be excluded from some restrictions.
The agreement would also require Meta to hide like and reaction counts from teenagers, remove cosmetic surgery filters for young users and provide an option for a non-personalized feed.
The company would further strengthen parental supervision tools and introduce additional age-verification technology designed to identify users under 18 and remove children under 13 from its platforms.
An independent auditor would monitor Meta’s compliance with the settlement. The company would also be prohibited from making false or misleading statements about the safety features and protections offered by its services.
Meta said the agreement could involve approximately $18 billion in payments over 10 years, with participating states expected to receive about $12.7 billion.
A further $5.3 billion would depend on YouTube and TikTok adopting similar protections, including one-hour daily limits, nighttime restrictions and age-assurance measures. The two companies would also need to make matching payments for those additional funds to be released.
Meta said the structure of the agreement is intended to encourage broader adoption of similar protections across the social media industry so teenagers receive consistent safeguards across the platforms they use.
California could receive between $1.5 billion and $2.1 billion under the agreement. State officials said a significant portion of the money would be earmarked for programs aimed at preventing or addressing mental health and other harms associated with social media use among young Californians.
Meta expects to record approximately $10 billion in legal expenses related to the agreement during the third quarter of 2026.
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Most of the new protections included in the settlement would remain in effect for 10 years. The agreement would also establish an independent research foundation dedicated to studying teen well-being and the relationship between young people and social media.
