Five days of testimony and millions of internal documents brought long-running questions about how social platforms protect their youngest users into sharper focus.
Meta has agreed to pay $18 billion, or about £13.3 billion, to settle claims by U.S. states and territories over harm that Facebook and Instagram may have caused children.
The settlement was approved by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in California. Payments will go to 48 states, the District of Columbia, and three U.S. territories. This is the largest amount Meta has agreed to pay in litigation involving child safety.
This is an important moment for bringing accountability to an industry that has harmed our children.
– California Attorney General Rob Bonta
Meta admitted no wrongdoing as part of the settlement. The company said it would pay the agreed amount in annual installments over ten years.
What led to Meta’s settlement with U.S. states
The initial lawsuit against Meta was filed by 29 states in 2023. The company was accused of numerous violations of federal and state children’s privacy laws.
The jury trial began in federal court in Oakland, California. State representatives argued that Meta had known for years that millions of Facebook and Instagram users were 11 and 12 years old but had failed to take sufficient steps to restrict their access to the platforms.
The trial lasted five days before the settlement was reached. Lawyers for the states relied on millions of internal Meta documents, including research findings, employee emails, and chat logs. Some of the materials involved communications with company CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Meta maintained that it had invested resources for many years in researching, testing, and developing features to protect its youngest users.
We are constantly working to keep teenagers safe.
– Instagram head Adam Mosseri
Adam Mosseri testified in court for about an hour. The case was settled and the proceedings concluded before he could address the jury again.
Testimony from a former Meta researcher
Before Adam Mosseri testified, the court heard from former Meta researcher George Volichenko. Together with the lawyers, he reviewed internal correspondence concerning the company’s work on user safety.
George Volichenko said that in 2022, he did not understand why his team was not given more freedom to test and implement new safety tools.
One such tool was “quiet mode,” which turned off notifications for teenagers at night. According to him, the team knew that far more users would use the feature if Meta enabled it automatically.
The researcher also recalled his manager saying that they should not be overly concerned about the feature’s low adoption rate because the team existed in part to protect the company from future lawsuits.
What restrictions will be introduced on Facebook and Instagram
The settlement requires changes to how Facebook and Instagram operate for minors. In particular, “night mode” will automatically block notifications from midnight to 6:00 a.m. Only a parent or guardian will be able to disable it.
Other planned measures include:
- an automatic two-hour daily limit shared between Instagram and Facebook, which a teenager will be able to disable only with parental permission;
- hiding “like” counts on teenagers’ profiles and on pages they interact with;
- a “school mode” that will turn off notifications from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on school days;
- reminders after 15 minutes of continuous platform use;
- additional notifications after total usage reaches 60 and 90 minutes;
- the option to select a feed that is not determined by an algorithm;
- the option to disable automatic playback of videos and other content;
- a ban on access to filters that radically alter a person’s appearance using virtual makeup.
Meta Chief Legal Officer C.J. Mahoney said the agreed framework would make it easier for parents to control their children’s access to the company’s platforms.
Meta urged other platforms to support the restrictions
The two-hour daily limit could be reduced to one hour of total use if TikTok, Snap, and YouTube also agree to introduce new rules for minors.
Rob Bonta called the Meta settlement an appropriate model for other technology companies and urged them to join the initiative. Meta separately said that TikTok and YouTube should introduce similar safety features for younger users.
Our new commitments on time limits, night mode, and usage limits during school hours set the right course for the entire industry, but this system will work only if every other company joins us.
– Meta Chief Legal Officer C.J. Mahoney
District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb called the Meta settlement a landmark public health victory. Following its approval, the company must not only make billions of dollars in payments but also change Facebook and Instagram settings to strengthen protections for children and give parents greater control.
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