Chicago – August 26, 2026
Meta Platforms has agreed to pay up to $18 billion and implement sweeping child-safety changes to Facebook and Instagram, resolving a landmark multistate lawsuit that accused the company of deliberately designing its platforms to addict teenagers and misleading the public about their risks.cnn+2
The settlement, announced on Wednesday in federal court in Oakland, California, covers claims by 47 states, the District of Columbia and several U.S. territories, and halts a high-profile trial that was set to feature testimony from CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Under the deal, Meta will restrict users aged 13–17 to a cumulative two hours of daily use across its apps, block access between midnight and 6 a.m. without parental consent, and disable push notifications during weekday school hours.nytimes+4
About $12.7 billion of the total will be paid to states over 10 years to fund youth online-safety and mental-health initiatives, with an additional $5.3 billion contingent on YouTube and TikTok adopting comparable safeguards and contributing matching funds.
California is expected to receive the largest share, between $1.5 billion and $2.1 billion. Meta denied wrongdoing but agreed to the terms to avoid further litigation, while attorneys general hailed the agreement as one of the largest state consumer-protection settlements in history.
