Meta Agrees to $18 Billion Settlement Over Teen Addiction

Meta Platforms Incorporated agreed to a landmark settlement of up to $18 billion over 10 years to resolve lawsuits brought by a coalition of 52 U.S. state attorneys general. The lawsuits alleged that the company intentionally designed Facebook and Instagram to be addictive to children. While Meta denied any wrongdoing, the agreement mandates extensive protections for teenage users.

New safety features include a default two-hour daily time limit, a nighttime block from midnight to 6 a.m. unless parental permission is granted, and the silencing of notifications during school hours. Meta must also replace self-attestation with strengthened age-assurance technology to verify users' ages.

Approximately 30% of the payout and certain stricter usage limits are contingent upon competing platforms, such as TikTok, YouTube, and Snapchat, adopting comparable obligations. This structure aims to establish a new industry-wide operating standard and prevent Meta's restrictions from driving young users toward competitors.

Reactions to the deal are divided. Supporters view the settlement as a victory for youth mental health, and North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson recommended allocating state funds to youth crisis assistance. However, the Electronic Frontier Foundation argued that the required age-estimation tools increase surveillance and threaten user privacy. U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal welcomed the progress but maintained that broader legislation is still necessary to cover all competitors.