Meta Platforms has agreed to pay more than $18 billion and implement new changes across its apps in order to settle a lawsuit that claimed its executives knew its services like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp were addicting to children.
The agreement, filed Wednesday in federal court in California, requires Meta to pay up to $17.1 billion and make broad changes to how minors use its platforms. A separate settlement with Texas would bring Meta’s total state settlements over similar claims beyond the $18 billion mark.
The proposed agreement still requires approval from U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who presided over the federal trial in Oakland. The trial began August 18 and ended shortly after Instagram President Adam Mosseri testified. Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg had been expected to testify later in the proceeding.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who helped lead the case, suggested the timing of the settlement reflected the pressure Meta faced at trial.
“It’s also telling that Meta settled midway through Instagram President Adam Mosseri‘s testimony and before CEO Mark Zuckerberg could take the stand,” Bonta told reporters during a Zoom-based press conference on Wednesday.
The states accused Meta of designing Facebook and Instagram to encourage compulsive use among young people while misrepresenting or downplaying the mental health risks associated with its products. Meta denied wrongdoing, and the court filing says the company denies the allegations and any liability to the plaintiffs.
Under the settlement, teen accounts on Facebook and Instagram will default to a two-hour daily time limit across the platforms. Teens will need parental permission to disable the limit. Meta also agreed to impose nighttime blocks, reduce notifications during overnight and school-hour periods, strengthen age assurance measures and create additional tools for parents and guardians.
The company will hide like counts on teen posts by default, block certain extreme makeup filters, allow teens to choose a non-algorithmic feed as their default and let them disable autoplay video.
Bonta said the settlement would force Meta to make “massive transformations” within months and described the agreement as part of a broader effort to change how social platforms serve younger users.
“As big as Meta is, it doesn’t stand alone,” Bonta said. “We’re continuing our fight across social media, including our litigation against TikTok, and we’ll continue to demand better from all parts of this industry through our ongoing work with the legislature.”
Meta framed the settlement as a framework that should apply across the broader social media industry: C.J. Mahoney, the company’s Chief Legal Officer, said the agreement would “empower parents to easily manage how their children access our platforms” and called on TikTok and YouTube to adopt similar measures.
Meta is expected to make an initial payment of about $12 billion, with additional payments tied to whether competitors including TikTok, YouTube and Snap enter similar agreements with states.
The settlement accounts for nearly all of Meta’s profit earned during the second quarter (Q2) of the year, which was reported at $15.85 billion on revenue of $60.8 billion. The company generates most of its revenue through advertising displayed across its social platforms and has leaned into developing new applications using artificial intelligence and virtual reality in order to grow and diversify its business.
Last year, Meta earned $201 billion in overall revenue and logged more than 3.5 billion monthly active accounts.
The settlement does not end all litigation against Meta: The company still faces claims from school districts and individual plaintiffs, along with broader litigation involving TikTok, YouTube and Snap.
