Meta Teen Safety Settlement Reaches $18 Billion

Meta agreed to an $18 billion multistate settlement over teen safety on Facebook and Instagram, financed over ten years with potential extra funds if rival platforms join similar restrictions. The deal imposes strict defaults for teens, including a two-hour daily limit, a ban on use between midnight and 6 a.m., quieter notifications during school hours, non-personalized feeds, stronger age verification, and the removal of beauty filters by default. Meta will train and test an age-assurance model to identify users under 13, with guardrails to avoid COPPA violations and a pledge not to use under-13 data for ads or optimization. State attorneys general will not sue Meta under existing child-safety laws over data use for training and testing, provided guardrails are followed. If rival platforms like TikTok or YouTube do not adopt similar protections, only about $12.7 billion would be payable, with up to $5.3 billion contingent on others’ participation; otherwise the full $18 billion would be released. Funds will support state programs on mental health, counseling, after-school activities, digital literacy, and consumer protection enforcement, with California and other states receiving sizable shares.