Meta Platforms has agreed to a settlement worth as much as $16.68 billion to resolve claims from U.S. states accusing the company of harming younger users through Facebook and Instagram.
The agreement was reached during a federal trial in California involving allegations that Meta deliberately designed features to encourage compulsive use among children, misrepresented the safety of its platforms, and improperly collected children’s personal information. Meta denied wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
Beyond the financial terms, Meta agreed to introduce additional protections for teenage Facebook and Instagram users across the United States. Court documents indicate that these measures will include daily limits on platform usage and restrictions preventing access during certain nighttime hours.
The trial covered consumer-protection claims brought by California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey. Separately, 29 states accused Meta of violating the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
Those states alleged that Meta collected personal information from users it knew were children without properly notifying their parents or obtaining parental consent. They further claimed that information collected from children was used for machine-learning and generative AI development.
Meta disputed the allegations and maintained that it has invested substantially in protections for younger users. The company also challenged claims concerning addiction, arguing that “social media addiction” is not formally recognized as a psychiatric condition.
Before the trial, the potential financial exposure was considerably higher than the amount covered by the settlement. Meta said in a pretrial filing that California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey were pursuing penalties of up to $1.4 trillion, while the states later indicated that the potential figure was closer to $200 billion. Authorities had also sought additional damages and significant changes to how Meta operates its platforms.
The case is part of a much larger collection of legal actions involving social media and children’s safety. Meta, Snap, TikTok parent ByteDance, and YouTube parent Alphabet continue to face thousands of lawsuits in federal and state courts. Plaintiffs include individuals, families, school districts, and government authorities alleging that certain platform features harmed children and teenagers.
Meta has also faced significant judgments in other recent cases. In March, a New Mexico jury ordered the company to pay $375 million after finding that it had misled consumers about platform safety. In August, a judge in the same litigation ordered another $567 million payment and imposed youth-safety requirements. Meta has said it will appeal those decisions.
A separate Los Angeles case concluded in March with Meta and Google being held liable for a plaintiff’s depression and anxiety. The jury awarded a combined $6 million in damages, a verdict the companies have also said they intend to appeal.
The new $16.68 billion agreement resolves the claims covered by the California federal trial, but it does not end the broader litigation facing Meta and other major social media companies over the alleged effects of their platforms on younger users.