Meta Agrees to $18 Billion Settlement Over Child and Teen Safety on Social Media

WASHINGTON —

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has agreed to pay approximately $18 billion to settle a series of legal disputes in the United States concerning the safety of children and teenagers on social media platforms.

Under the agreement announced Wednesday, the company is expected to make the payments in stages over the next 10 years. Meta will also introduce a range of new restrictions aimed at limiting how younger users access and interact with its platforms.

The company, however, has not admitted to violating any laws as part of the settlement.

Agreement with 52 State Attorneys General

The settlement was reached with a coalition representing 52 US attorneys general.

The legal disputes have focused on concerns about the effects of social media on young users and whether platforms have done enough to protect children and teenagers from potentially harmful features and excessive use.

The agreement combines financial commitments with measures designed to place tighter controls on minors' use of Meta's services.

Daily Screen-Time Limits

One of the proposed measures would introduce restrictions on how long younger users can remain on Meta's applications.

Under the new system, children's and teenagers' use of the apps could be limited to a maximum of two hours per day.

Users would also receive reminders to take a break approximately every 15 minutes, encouraging them to step away from their screens rather than continue using the platform for extended periods.

Overnight Restrictions and School-Time Notifications

Accounts identified as belonging to minors would be automatically deactivated between midnight and 6 a.m.

Notifications would also be turned off during typical school hours, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., under the planned measures.

The changes are intended to reduce disruptions to sleep and education and encourage healthier patterns of social media use among young people.

Hiding Like Counts to Reduce Social Pressure

The proposed reforms would also address concerns about the psychological pressure created by social-media popularity metrics.

The number of likes received by a user's post—or by posts from other users—would not be displayed by default for younger users.

The measure is intended to reduce the emphasis on popularity and social comparison, which can contribute to pressure among teenagers.

Age Verification Emerges as a Major Challenge

Implementing the new rules could prove difficult, particularly when it comes to accurately determining the age of users.

Meta may need to rely on technologies such as facial analysis, government-issued identification and assessments of online behavior to distinguish minors from adults.

But age-verification systems are not perfect. Incorrectly classifying an adult as a minor could impose unnecessary restrictions, while failing to identify a child could undermine the very protections the agreement is intended to provide.

Privacy Concerns

Alongside child safety, privacy is expected to remain a major concern.

Age-verification systems may require access to sensitive personal information, raising questions about how such data would be collected, processed, protected and potentially retained.

Alexis Inger, a communications professor at Syracuse University, has argued that existing age-verification technologies are not yet completely reliable.

Lawyer Philip Yanella, however, has pointed to significant advances in age-verification technology in recent years. He has argued that it is possible to develop systems capable of confirming a user's age without retaining personal information for long periods.

The debate highlights a difficult balance: platforms must improve protections for children while ensuring that age verification does not create new privacy risks.

Global Pressure to Regulate Social Media

The settlement comes as governments around the world intensify scrutiny of children's use of social media.

Several countries have introduced or considered new laws and regulations covering issues such as minimum ages, parental controls, advertising practices, platform responsibility and online safety.

The Meta agreement reflects the growing pressure on major technology companies to take greater responsibility for protecting younger users.

Meta has said it is already taking a number of steps to improve child safety and has called on other major platforms, including TikTok and YouTube, to adopt stronger measures to protect children and teenagers.

Implementation Will Be the Real Test

The financial settlement and proposed restrictions represent a major commitment, but their effectiveness will ultimately depend on how well they work in practice.

Meta will face the difficult task of accurately identifying underage users, enforcing time and feature restrictions, protecting personal information and minimizing errors in automated age-verification systems.

The case also highlights a broader challenge facing the technology industry: how to create safer online spaces for children without unnecessarily compromising the privacy and freedoms of users.

As governments and regulators around the world continue to examine the impact of social media on young people, Meta's settlement could become an important test of how far technology companies can—and should—go to protect children online.