NewzA coalition of 29 states had accused Meta of designing its products to deliberately hook children to use them. New York (CNN) — Meta has agreed to an about $17 billion settlement to resolve claims brought by 29 state attorneys general that it intentionally designed addictive platforms that harmed young people’s mental health, according to a court filing Wednesday. The settlement ends a landmark legal battle for the social media giant.
As part of the settlement, Meta has agreed to make changes to its platforms, such as establishing daily time limits for teen users, according to a court filing. The nearly $18 billion payment will provide funding for state “youth online safety initiatives,” according to the company. It comes just over a week after a trial began in California, in which four of the states were seeking as much as $1.4 trillion in damages and changes to the company’s platforms.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri was set to take the stand for a second day on Wednesday, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was also expected to testify in the case. Meta has long denied that its platforms harm children and had called the states’ claims “unsubstantiated.” Meta did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement. “Ensuring teens have a safe and productive experience on our platforms is an absolute imperative for Meta,” the company said in a blog post about the agreement on Wednesday.
“We want to get this right for parents and teens, and that’s why we partnered with state attorneys general to set a new industry standard.” This is a developing story and will be updated. The-CNN-Wire & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. WASHINGTON, United States (AFP)—Meta agreed to pay US states as much as $16.7 billion and to impose sweeping new limits on how teenagers use Facebook and Instagram, according to a court filing on Wednesday that ends a landmark trial in California.
The proposed settlement, filed in federal court, would resolve claims by a coalition of US states that Meta deliberately engineered its platforms to hook young users, misled the public about the risks and unlawfully collected data from children under 13. "Meta has agreed to make massive transformations that will reduce the risk of harm from its platforms -- and will do it within months," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. He called the outcome "real change, real transparency, and real enforceable protections for children." The filing states that the agreement does not amount to an admission of liability or wrongdoing by Meta, which has consistently denied the allegations.
It requires court approval to take effect. The most far-reaching provisions are not financial, with Meta agreeing to a long list of new safeguards that will substantially change how the apps work for young people. One change will switch on a nighttime block that by default locks teenagers out of Facebook and Instagram between midnight and 6:00 am local time.
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