The lawsuit accused Meta of contributing to the youth mental health crisis by deliberately designing features that addict children to its platforms.
QUAD CITIES — Meta agreed Wednesday to pay up to $18 billion and add stronger child-safety measures to Facebook and Instagram as part of a landmark legal settlement that ended a trial over teen social media addiction.
The agreement resolves a case years in the making that sought to hold the company accountable for the role its platforms played in undermining children’s mental health.
The lawsuit was brought by 52 state attorneys general, who alleged Meta knowingly designed its platforms to be addictive to young users.
“The lawsuit was about what Meta has been doing to addict kids on social media. The harms that that causes, the doom scrolling, the automatic videos, and what it’s meant for kids’ mental health,” Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said.
The settlement could also put an end to a wave of state lawsuits against Meta, although the company still faces lawsuits from individuals and school districts across the country.
Iowa and Illinois
As part of the agreement, Meta says it will pay up to $18 billion over the next 10 years.
Bird joined the lawsuit in April of this year.
Iowa will receive about $126.5 million from one settlement, plus another $9 million from an included settlement over Facebook user data.
“We will continue to use that money to use technology to help keep kids safe, to make sure that parents and kids have the information they need to be safe online,” Bird said.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and more than 30 attorneys general filed the lawsuit against Meta in October 2023.
As a result of the agreement, Illinois will receive nearly $768 million.
“After decades of putting profits before the health and wellness of children, we are compelling Meta to put our children’s safety and mental health at the forefront,” Raoul said in a video press release.
The money can be used for youth online safety initiatives or other state priorities, including mental health programs, after-school or summer activities and digital literacy counselors.
Changes coming to Facebook and Instagram
Meta agreed to make major changes to Facebook and Instagram, including eliminating or changing design and algorithmic features that states claimed got kids addicted.
“Meta is agreeing to change its platform to make it safer for kids and to put some common sense protections into their platform to keep kids safer,” Bird said.
The changes include a default daily time limit of two hours for users under 18. The limit can only be lifted by a parent.
- Ban the display of numbers of likes or reactions for users under 18.
- Ban cosmetic procedure image filters for users under 18.
- Give users under 18 the option of a non-personalized feed that does not use an algorithm to target them with content designed to keep them scrolling.
- Block notifications by default for users under 18 from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. and during the school day.
- Create an enhanced system for teens to report potentially harmful content, with Meta required to respond to 90% of those reports within six hours.
“The framework we’ve negotiated will empower parents to easily manage their children’s access to our platforms,” Meta Chief Legal Officer C.J. Mahoney said in a video statement.
Meta says the changes are more significant and comprehensive than terms ordered by any court.
What happens to the settlement money?
Meta will initially distribute 70% of the settlement funds.
The remaining 30% — about $5.3 billion — will only be released to states if YouTube and TikTok meet two conditions.
The companies would need to implement similar safety features, including a one-hour daily time limit, a nighttime block and age-assurance measures.
They would also need to pay the same amount, split between the two companies.
Neither YouTube owner Google nor TikTok responded to requests for comment.
Meta officials declined to comment on whether they had conversations with the companies about the conditions, but said the agreement was designed to incentivize the rest of the industry to follow suit.
The 18$ billion settlement is a fraction of Meta’s $201 billion in revenue in 2025. Meta shares closed up about 1% Wednesday after rising as much as 4% during the day.
In agreeing to the settlement, Meta did not admit any wrongdoing.
A judge still needs to sign off on the agreement.
Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
————————————————
