Meta has agreed to pay US states and territories $18 billion to settle allegations that Facebook and Instagram exposed children to harmful effects, in what is the social media giant’s largest payment linked to child safety litigation.
A California judge approved the agreement, which covers 48 states, the District of Columbia and three US territories. Under the deal, Meta will make the payment in annual instalments over 10 years, while introducing a series of new measures designed to give parents greater control over how young users access its platforms.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta described the settlement as a major step towards addressing what he called an industry-wide problem affecting children. The agreement requires Meta to introduce protections that state authorities had demanded, including restrictions on daily usage and automatic overnight limits.
Meta has not admitted wrongdoing as part of the settlement. The company said it has spent years investing in safety research and developing tools aimed at protecting younger users, while its chief legal officer, CJ Mahoney, said the new framework would make it easier for parents to manage their children’s use of Facebook and Instagram.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said the agreement represented a fair and comprehensive approach, combining financial compensation with measures intended to change Meta’s conduct and address the negative effects associated with its social media platforms.
The case originated in 2023, when 29 states sued Meta over alleged violations of federal and state laws concerning children’s privacy and online safety. New Mexico was not included in Wednesday’s settlement and is pursuing a separate case against the company.
The development comes after a brief federal trial in Oakland, California, where state lawyers presented evidence from millions of internal Meta documents, including employee communications, research and messages involving senior executives. Prosecutors argued that Meta had known millions of children aged 11 and 12 were using its platforms but had failed to do enough to prevent them from accessing the services.
Internal material presented during the proceedings included research discussing teenagers’ potentially addictive relationship with Instagram. State lawyers argued the evidence showed Meta continued targeting younger users despite concerns raised internally about the impact of its platforms.
Former Meta researcher George Volichenko also gave evidence about the company’s approach to safety features. He told the court he had questioned why his team was not given greater freedom to test and introduce additional protections for young users.
One feature discussed during the proceedings was a tool designed to silence notifications overnight. According to Volichenko, the team believed the feature would have been adopted more widely if it had been switched on automatically for teenagers.
Under the new settlement, Meta will introduce a default “night mode” that blocks notifications between midnight and 6am. Teenagers will not be able to disable the setting themselves, with changes requiring permission from a parent or guardian.
Young users will also face a default two-hour daily limit covering combined use of Instagram and Facebook. The restriction can only be removed with parental permission, while that limit could fall to one hour if other major platforms, including TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube, introduce comparable safeguards.
Other measures include hiding likes on teenagers’ profiles and posts they interact with, as well as a “school mode” that mutes notifications between 8am and 3pm on school days.
Meta will also introduce prompts when teenagers reach 15 minutes of continuous use, followed by further notifications once their cumulative usage reaches 60 and 90 minutes. Users will have the option of choosing a feed that is not controlled by an algorithm and can disable automatic video playback.
Certain extreme make-up filters will also be removed from access for teenage users as part of the agreement.
Bonta called on other major social media companies to adopt similar measures, describing the Meta settlement as a potential blueprint for wider industry reform. He warned that his office could shift its attention towards broader action across the social media sector if other platforms failed to introduce stronger protections.
Meta echoed the call, urging TikTok and YouTube to adopt comparable safety measures. The company said its new time limits, overnight restrictions and school-hour controls could provide a model for the wider industry, but argued that the approach would be more effective if its competitors participated.
The settlement was welcomed by officials in other jurisdictions, including District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb, who described the agreement as a major public health victory. He said the new safeguards would significantly alter how young people use Facebook and Instagram.
The agreement marks a significant development in the growing US push to hold social media companies accountable for the potential impact of their platforms on children. With regulators and state governments increasingly demanding stronger safeguards, the Meta settlement could place further pressure on the wider technology industry to tighten protections for young users.
