Meta agrees $18bn settlement over claims its platforms harm children

Meta agreed on Wednesday to pay up to $18 billion to settle claims by US states that Facebook and Instagram were designed to be addictive and harmed children. The deal was reached during a California federal court trial and was approved by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, according to the BBC.

The settlement resolves lawsuits originally filed in 2023 by 29 states accusing Meta of violating federal and state child privacy laws. It now covers 48 states, the District of Columbia and three US territories, with New Mexico the only state not included, the BBC reported.

Meta has denied wrongdoing. The company said the payment will be distributed in annual instalments over a ten-year period, according to the BBC.

“This is a major moment to clean up an industry that has been hurting our kids.”

: California Attorney General Rob Bonta, quoted by the BBC

Safety features required under the deal

As part of the settlement, Meta must implement a range of new protections for teenage users. These include a default two-hour daily time limit across Instagram and Facebook that teens can only turn off with a parent's permission, and a "night mode" that blocks notifications between midnight and 6am, according to the BBC.

The company will also hide like counts on teen profiles, mute notifications during school hours from 8am to 3pm, and offer prompts after 15 minutes of continuous use and again at 60 and 90 minutes, the BBC reported. Teens will be able to choose a feed that is not driven by an algorithm.

If other platforms such as TikTok, Snap and YouTube agree to similar restrictions, the daily limit for teens will drop to one hour, according to the BBC. Meta said its framework would only work if rivals join.

“The safety features Meta is required to install will fundamentally and immediately change how young people use Instagram and Facebook.”

: District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb, quoted by the BBC

A trial that turned on internal documents

The trial lasted just five days before the settlement was announced. State lawyers relied on internal Meta documents including research, employee emails and chat logs involving CEO Mark Zuckerberg, according to the BBC. One internal research note said, "Teens have an addict's narrative about use."

Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri testified on Tuesday that the company was "always working on teen safety," but the case was settled before he could return to the stand, the BBC reported. A former Meta researcher, George Volichenko, said his team was not given freedom to implement safety features and recalled a manager saying the team existed partly to protect the company against lawsuits.

The settlement amount is significantly smaller than the hundreds of billions Meta could have faced if it lost at trial, according to the BBC. Meta's 2025 revenue was $201 billion, KSL reported.

Meta said it was "building on our longstanding efforts to empower parents and support teens" and urged TikTok and YouTube to adopt similar measures, according to KSL.