Meta has reached a proposed settlement worth up to approximately $18 billion with a bipartisan coalition of 52 attorneys generals over allegations that Facebook and Instagram were deliberately designed to encourage compulsive use by children and teenagers.
The settlement, which is awaiting court approval, resolves a lawsuit filed in 2023 by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general.
The lawsuit accused Meta of designing features that drove compulsive use among young users while misleading users, families, and the public about the risks of its platforms.
The attorneys general also alleged that Meta illegally collected and used data belonging to children under 13, violating federal and state laws, including the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), California’s False Advertising Law, and California’s Unfair Competition Law.
Under the agreement, Meta will introduce new restrictions for users under 18 on Facebook and Instagram, including a default two-hour daily usage limit that can only be turned off with parental permission. If YouTube and TikTok agree to similar terms, that limit would be reduced to one hour.
Meta will also block teens from using its apps between midnight and 6 a.m. by default and mute most notifications between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. and during school hours, which a parent can modify. Direct messages and some account security or safety alerts are excluded from some of these restrictions.
Other requirements include hiding like and reaction counts from teenagers, blocking cosmetic surgery filters, providing an option for a non-personalized feed, strengthening parental supervision tools, and deploying additional age-verification technology to identify users under 18 and remove children under 13.
An independent auditor will also oversee Meta’s compliance with the agreement, while the company will be prohibited from making false or misleading claims about its safety features.
Meta says the agreement includes approximately $18 billion in payments over ten years. Participating states are set to receive roughly $12.7 billion.
Another $5.3 billion will only be released if YouTube and TikTok adopt similar changes, including one-hour daily limits, nighttime restrictions, and age-assurance measures, and each makes a matching payment.
“The agreement is designed to drive industry-wide adoption, ensuring teens receive consistent protections across the apps they use most, like YouTube and TikTok. If industry peers adopt this new standard, certain provisions will be strengthened,” announced Meta.
Of this money, California expected to receive between $1.5 billion and $2.1 billion.
“How a significant portion of the payment received by California will be spent will ultimately be decided by the Legislature and Governor, but in the proposed settlement it is earmarked for purposes related to the prevention or remediation of mental health or other harms to young Californians associated with social media use,” explains the press release by Attorney General Bonta.
Meta said it expects to incur approximately $10 billion in legal expenses related to the agreement in the third quarter of 2026
Most of the new protections must remain in place for ten years, and the agreement also establishes an independent research foundation focused on teen well-being and social media use.
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