Meta agrees to $17–18 billion teen-safety settlement, proposes matching rules for TikTok and YouTube

Meta might be on the hook for $17.1 billion and a host of app changes under a new kids safety settlement, but it's already spinning the deal to its advantage. After years of being the national punching bag for social media harms, Meta has reached a settlement with 47 US states and several districts and […]

Meta has settled – pending approval – a case about the additcive features of its social media app that was first filed by 51 US States in 2023, for $18-billion. Now it is calling on TikTok and YouTube to also comply.

Meta will impose a default two-hour daily time limit on Instagram and Facebook for users under 18, along with a mandatory overnight shutdown of the apps, as part of a settlement with a coalition of US state attorneys general, according to the office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta.Two-hour cap, parental override onlyUnder the agreement, teenagers using Facebook and Instagram will be capped at two hours of daily use by default. The limit can only be switched off with a parent's permission. The restriction is designed to tighten further if rival platforms sign on to similar commitments. If YouTube, TikTok and Snap adopt comparable measures, the default limit for minors would drop to one hour.Meta Agrees To $17 Billion Settlement Over Teen Safety Lawsuit; Will Introduce 2-Hour Daily Usage Limit For Kids Under 18No Facebook, Instagram scrolling in the nightAlongside the daily cap, Meta will enforce a default overnight block between midnight and 6 am, during which teenagers will be locked out of both apps entirely. As with the daily limit, only a parent can lift this restriction. This overnight block could also expand, to cover 10 pm to 7 am, if other major platforms agree to matching restrictions. Meta will additionally switch off notifications to under-18 users by default during the overnight hours and through the school day.Part of a wider settlementThe measures are among the terms of a proposed settlement resolving a lawsuit filed in 2023 by a bipartisan coalition of 51 attorneys general, which accused Meta of designing Instagram and Facebook to be addictive to children and teenagers while misleading the public about the risks. The case went to trial on August 18 in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, and the settlement, which still requires court approval, also includes a payment of up to $17 billion to the states over ten years, alongside stronger age-verification systems, expanded parental controls, and independent audit oversight of Meta's compliance.Meta did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement. Its chief legal officer, CJ Mahoney, described the new framework as groundbreaking, saying it would help parents manage how their children use the company's platforms, but added that the changes would have limited impact unless other social media companies adopted similar standards, a direct call for TikTok and YouTube to follow suit.Meta has reportedly agreed to roll out the changes 'within months', calling the settlement a step toward making 'social media less dangerous for our kids'.

Meta has agreed to pay $17 billion to settle a landmark lawsuit brought by a coalition of state attorneys general, who accused the company of designing Instagram and Facebook to be addictive to children and teenagers, according to California Attorney General Rob Bonta's office.States allege compulsive-use design, cover-upThe lawsuit, filed in 2023 and led by California along with Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey, argued that Meta built and rolled out features that encouraged compulsive use among young people, harming their mental and physical health. The attorneys general further alleged that the company misled users, families and the public about the extent of these risks, and that it unlawfully collected data from children under 13, in violation of laws including the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. Trial in the case began on August 18 in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, with a coalition of 51 attorneys general eventually reaching the proposed settlement, which still requires court approval.Payout structure and new restrictions for teensUnder the deal, Meta will pay states roughly $16 billion over ten years, with California alone expected to receive between $1.5 billion and $2.1 billion. Some conditions are structured to intensify if other platforms sign on to similar commitments. For instance, the payout ceiling and the restrictions on minors tighten if YouTube, TikTok and Snap adopt comparable measures. On the product side, Meta must introduce a default two-hour daily time limit for users under 18 across Facebook and Instagram, which can only be lifted with parental consent, along with a default overnight block between midnight and 6 am. That limit could shrink to one hour, and the overnight block could widen, if rival platforms fall in line.Additional safeguards and oversightThe settlement also requires Meta to switch off notifications to under-18 users by default during nighttime hours and the school day, hide 'like' and reaction counts on posts by minors, ban cosmetic-surgery-style image filters for young users, and offer teens the option of a non-personalised feed that isn't algorithmically curated. Meta must strengthen its age-verification systems to detect underage users, expand parental supervision tools, and bring on an independent auditor with wide access to the company's information and resources. The company will also be barred by injunction from making further misleading statements about its safety features.Meta denies wrongdoing, calls for rivals to follow suitMeta did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement. Chief legal officer CJ Mahoney called the framework groundbreaking, saying it would help parents manage their children's platform access, but added that its impact depends on other social media companies adopting the same standards, a direct call for TikTok and YouTube to follow Meta's lead.

Meta today said it will implement major changes to Facebook and Instagram's child safety features as part of a settlement agreement with almost all U.S. states. Here's what will change for users under 18 on Instagram and Facebook if the agreement is approved. Time Limit - Teens will have a two-hour daily time limit on Facebook and Instagram, though it can be overridden by a parent. The two-hour total includes both apps. Night Mode - Users will be blocked from posting and viewing content between midnight and 6 a.m. School Mode - Notifications are muted between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Prompts - The apps will send prompts after every 15 minutes of continuous screen time. There will also be prompts when daily usage hits 60 minutes and 90 minutes. Feed Control - Teens can choose a non-algorithmic feed that does not include personalization through the Instagram and Facebook recommendation systems. Parents will be able to require this setting. Autoplay Control - Teens will be able to turn off autoplay. Parents can require this setting. Hidden Likes - Teens won't see the likes and reactions on a post by default. Filters - Cosmetic surgery and extreme makeup filters won't be accessible to teens. Age Assurance - ‌Meta‌ plans to strengthen tools it uses to catch accounts belonging to users under 13, as well as accounts used by teens aged 13 to 17 to make sure the accounts have "experiences designed for teens." Parental Controls - ‌Meta‌ will add new controls for parents, notifying them if a teen links a second account or interacts with suspicious accounts. Parents will also get periodic updates on teen usage. Direct Messages - Direct messages are exempt from Time Limit, Night Mode, and School Mode. ‌Meta‌ will also pay approximately $18 billion to states to fund online youth safety initiatives, which is far less than its 2025 net income of $60.5 billion. The payment will be spread over a 10-year period, and ‌Meta‌ is withholding $5.3 billion unless TikTok and YouTube implement similar measures. If they do, ‌Meta‌ says it will lower daily usage limits from two cumulative hours across both apps to one hour for each app and expand ‌Night Mode‌ to run from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. ‌Meta‌ wants YouTube and TikTok to add a one-hour daily limit, night mode, and age assurance measures, as well as pay $5.3 billion each to match ‌Meta‌'s withheld $5.3 billion. ‌Meta‌ posted an open letter calling on TikTok and YouTube to implement the same measures. Teens with restrictions on Instagram and Facebook could instead just move over to TikTok and YouTube, and ‌Meta‌ likely doesn't want to be the only company losing out on revenue. ‌Meta‌ has been in a federal trial over the lawsuit, and had it continued, it could have been forced to pay more. California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey were seeking closer to $200 billion in civil penalties, according to Reuters. The settlement came before ‌Meta‌ CEO Mark Zuckerberg was set to testify, but Florida declined to settle and will continue litigation. New Mexico was also uninvolved because it won its own case against ‌Meta‌ earlier this year.Tags: Facebook, Instagram, Meta, TikTokThis article, "Meta Agrees to Limit Teens' Time on Facebook and Instagram, Calls on TikTok and YouTube to Match" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums

Meta’s deal to settle a federal lawsuit alleging it fueled a teen mental health crisis has a major caveat – its chief rivals TikTok and Google-owned YouTube must agree to make the same safety changes to their apps before Mark Zuckerberg will pay the full settlement.