Meta agrees to $18 billion settlement with 29 states over alleged child safety violations
Meta will pay up to $18 billion to resolve claims that its platforms were designed to addict children and that it collected data from minors without parental consent, while proposing new teen-safety features.
Meta has agreed to a settlement of up to $18 billion with 29 U.S. states that accused the company of designing Instagram and Facebook to be addictive for children and of violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting data from minors without parental knowledge. The company does not admit liability but will distribute the payment over ten years.
As part of the deal, Meta will implement a set of protections for teenage users that it developed with 52 state attorneys general. The measures, which will remain in effect for a decade, include a default two-hour daily usage limit across Facebook and Instagram, alerts at 60 and 90 minutes, and prompts every 15 minutes to encourage intentional use. Additional controls will block access to the apps between midnight and 6 a.m., mute notifications during school hours, hide like counts, and restrict certain makeup filters. Meta also plans to expand age-verification technology to better identify accounts belonging to users under 13.
The settlement allocates about $5.3 billion of the total amount to be paid only if YouTube and TikTok adopt comparable limits and age-assurance measures, matching the same sum.
"Because teens move fluidly across dozens of apps, we need an industry-wide solution," Chief Legal Officer C.J. Mahoney said, urging competitors to adopt the framework.
Meta will record a $10 billion legal expense in the third quarter, affecting its financial results, though its share price rose following the announcement.