Meta has reached an $18 billion settlement with 48 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and three territories to resolve allegations that its social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram, harmed children. The agreement, approved by a California federal judge on Wednesday, includes a commitment from the company to implement new safety features for younger users while denying any wrongdoing.
The settlement follows a lawsuit filed in 2023 by 29 states that accused Meta of violating federal and state child privacy laws. The legal proceedings moved to a jury trial in Oakland, California, last week, where state attorneys presented internal documents and testimony suggesting the company targeted young users despite research indicating addictive patterns. New Mexico was not part of this agreement, as a separate court recently ruled Meta to be a "public nuisance" and ordered it to pay nearly $1 billion.
Under the terms approved by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, Meta will pay the $18 billion in annual installments over a 10-year period. The company also agreed to technical changes, including a default "night mode" that blocks notifications for teens between midnight and 6:00 a.m. and a two-hour daily time limit across its platforms. Meta's chief legal officer, CJ Mahoney, stated the framework empowers parents, while California Attorney General Rob Bonta described the deal as a blueprint for the social media industry.
On a broader scale, Meta will distribute $18 billion—the largest payment in the company's history for child safety litigation—to state governments over the next decade. These funds are intended to address what state officials called a public health issue. For Meta, the financial impact translates to $1.8 billion per year through 2036. The agreement also sets a potential precedent for the wider tech industry; Meta has indicated that its daily time limit for teens will be further reduced to one hour if competitors like TikTok, Snap, and YouTube implement similar restrictions.
The legal resolution ends a high-profile trial that relied on internal emails and research from executives, including Mark Zuckerberg. While Meta denied liability, the settlement mandates that the new safety features be designed so they can only be disabled by a parent or guardian, shifting more control over platform usage to households. Following this settlement, California officials indicated they would turn their focus toward other social media platforms to seek similar industry-wide changes. The specific start date for the implementation of all new features was not reported.