Meta has reportedly agreed to a $17 billion settlement with states over a lawsuit alleging it deliberately got children addicted to its platforms and deceived users about the potential harm.
The company owns Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. In addition to paying out the settlement, the company agreed to make changes to its policies to ensure that minors are safe on its platforms.
From Politico:
The impact of the concessions Meta has agreed to make will be limited to the U.S. but nonetheless far-reaching, as the company is set to implement protections that online safety advocates have been trying to extract from Congress for years. Instagram and Facebook boast hundreds of millions of American users, many of whom are the teens and parents who would experience the new child safety features most directly.
According to Bonta’s office, the settlement, which must be approved by a federal judge, demands that Meta build guardrails into its platforms to limit minors’ access to two hours each day and block them entirely between midnight and 6 a.m. unless a parent decides to override the restrictions.
Default settings will also block Meta from sending minors notifications between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., with similar prohibitions applying during school hours from mid-August to mid-June.
Restrictions could get even tighter. If social media competitors like Snapchat, TikTok or YouTube agree to follow suit, daily time limits would drop to one hour, and the nighttime access block would last from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., according to the terms of the proposed settlement.
The settlement will further limit how minors engage with Meta products by requiring the company to conceal the number of “likes” and other reactions to their posts and those they view, banning so-called “beauty filters” and allowing them to deactivate personalized feeds that use algorithms to fine-tune content recommendations and maximize user engagement. Meta would also have to report to an independent auditor and institute more stringent age assurance measures to identify young users, among other safety commitments.
Meta will pay the $17 billion to states over ten years, according to Bonta’s office.
Meta is facing a 200 billion dollar federal lawsuit filed by US states, including California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey, alleging that the company deliberately designed platforms like Instagram and Facebook to keep children addicted.
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) August 19, 2026
The states argue that Meta violated… pic.twitter.com/eFf1xXOMfr
Attorneys general in 29 states filed the lawsuit claiming Meta designed Facebook and Instagram to make children addicted to its platforms to keep them on the apps longer and sell more advertising.
Prosecutors cited internal research and communications as proof of Meta’s actions. One company document read, “the young ones are the best ones,” according to The Guardian. Another stated, “Teens are hooked despite how it makes them feel. Instagram is addictive.”
Meta’s research also found that “product features designed to increase time spent are inherently at odds with well-being and take away from people’s ability to focus on activity that adds value to their lives.”
California Deputy Attorney General Megan O’Neill told the jury that Meta’s model was to “hook the users, hold them for as long as they can, harvest their data, and then hide the truth from the public.”
She pointed to an internal report noting that employees viewed Instagram as a “drug” and themselves as “pushers.”
