On Wednesday, August 26, 2026, the American technology company Meta reached a settlement agreement with attorneys general from 48 states and 4 territories, agreeing to pay up to $18 billion to end a massive federal lawsuit regarding the harm caused to teenagers by social media. This agreement brought an end to the trial in California and if approved by the judge, will usher in a new era where tech companies will bear legal responsibilities for their platforms.
As part of the settlement, Meta will undertake comprehensive reforms on its social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, including setting a default two-hour time limit for users under 18 years old.
An interesting provision in the settlement is that unless the other social media platforms TikTok and YouTube (a subsidiary of Alphabet) agree to implement a default daily one-hour time limit for underage users in their applications and pay approximately $5.3 billion to the states, Meta will only have to pay 70% of the settlement amount over ten years. If TikTok and YouTube agree to these terms, Meta will continue to pay the same amount ($5.3 billion) as the remaining 30% of the settlement amount.
The settlement agreement will involve staggered payments over ten years to the states that have signed the agreement based on their population size. The agreement covers 48 states and four U.S. territories: the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands. New Mexico and Florida, which had sued and won similar cases against Meta in the spring, are not part of this settlement agreement.
In addition to the time limits, Meta agreed to introduce “Night Mode” and “School Mode.” Night Mode automatically blocks push notifications on the platform between midnight and 6 AM, while School Mode prohibits notifications to underage users during school hours from 8 AM to 3 PM. These settings can only be changed with parental permission.
Furthermore, Meta will limit underage users from seeing the number of likes or reactions on posts, prohibit the use of plastic surgery and beauty filters targeted at minors, and provide content dynamics not relying on personalized recommendation algorithms. The company is also required to enhance age verification, parental controls, and protection against bullying, eating disorders, suicide, self-harm, and other harmful content.
C.J. Mahoney, Meta’s legal chief, stated that this agreement marks the first time Meta has reached a consensus with regulatory bodies across the U.S. on how to address the issue of adolescent social media addiction.
The settlement agreement is still pending federal judge approval. Once approved, the agreement will formally resolve the cases brought by the state governments and end the ongoing trial.
The case is currently being heard in federal district court in Oakland, California, and has entered its second week. Originally planned to continue until early October.
The case was filed by the attorneys general of California, Kentucky, New Jersey, and Colorado, accusing Meta of knowingly promoting addictive content on its platform targeted at underage users, thereby violating state consumer protection laws and the 1998 federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
Originally, the attorneys general had demanded that Meta pay approximately $200 billion in damages.
Meta still faces thousands of lawsuits brought by school districts and individual plaintiffs, alleging that its social media platforms have caused harm and attempting to hold Meta liable under product liability for the design of its products (Instagram and Facebook).
Previously, plaintiffs had attempted to sue Meta over the content displayed on its applications. However, the court ruled that under federal law, the company enjoys broad immunity for user-generated content.