Meta has agreed to pay up to $18 billion to settle claims brought by US states and territories that Facebook and Instagram harmed children, while accepting new restrictions designed to limit teenagers’ use of the platforms.
A California judge has approved the settlement, which covers 48 states, the District of Columbia and three US territories. Meta will make the payment through annual instalments over 10 years and has denied wrongdoing as part of the agreement.
The deal also requires Meta to introduce stricter controls for teenage users. Brandspur Brand News reports that Instagram and Facebook will have a default two-hour daily usage limit for teens, with the restriction only removable with parental permission.
Meta will also activate a night-time block by default, preventing notifications between midnight and 6am. Parents or guardians will control whether the feature can be disabled. A separate school mode will mute notifications between 8am and 3pm on school days.
Other measures include hiding likes on teenagers’ profiles and posts they interact with, displaying warnings after periods of continuous use, and providing alerts when cumulative usage reaches 60 and 90 minutes.
Teenagers will also be able to select a feed that is not driven by an algorithm and disable video autoplay. Meta will additionally restrict access to extreme make-up filters.
The two-hour daily limit could eventually fall to one hour if other major social media platforms, including TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube, introduce similar restrictions for young users.
The settlement follows litigation initially brought in 2023 by 29 states, which accused Meta of violating federal and state laws concerning children’s privacy and safety. State lawyers alleged during proceedings that Meta knew millions of 11- and 12-year-olds were using its platforms despite age restrictions.
The case also exposed internal company research and communications concerning teenage users and safety measures. One former Meta researcher told the court that his team had questioned why certain safety features were not being implemented more widely.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta described the settlement as a major step towards addressing the impact of social media on children, while District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb called it a significant public health victory.
Meta has defended its record on child safety and said it has invested heavily in research and features designed to make its platforms safer for younger users. The company is now urging other major social media firms to adopt similar protections, arguing that broader participation would make the measures more effective.
