Meta to Pay $17 Billion and Impose New Safety Rules for Under-18 Users

Meta Corp. reached a settlement with 52 state attorneys general that includes a $17 billion payment and a ten-year commitment to new safety safeguards for users under 18 on Facebook and Instagram. The agreement obligates the company to enforce daily two-hour usage limits, night-mode restrictions from midnight to 6 a.m., optional disabling of autoplay, removal of like and reaction counts, and the option for a non-algorithmic feed that shows only followed accounts. Stronger age-verification tools must also keep under-13 users out of the platforms. Most features are slated to roll out within six months, while age-assurance technology may take up to a year.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who co-led the case, said the settlement’s financial component is historic but emphasized that “the core of this case is not the financial penalties … it is the business practices that they will change that will help protect the mental health of our kids.”

Meta will also establish an independent research foundation on teen well-being and an auditor to report compliance to the states. The company plans to distribute the settlement funds annually over the next decade to support youth-online safety programs.

Experts note that while the new controls, such as disabling autoplay, could curb excessive screen time, they rely on teens or parents to activate them, which may limit effectiveness. Critics also point out the absence of a tool to disable infinite scroll, a feature that encourages prolonged engagement. Nonetheless, the two-hour limit is intended to mitigate that risk.

The settlement follows similar actions against other platforms, including TikTok’s $400 million deal with the U.S. Justice Department and YouTube’s recent teen-focused protections.