Meta Agrees to Fork Over $16 Billion Settlement in Landmark Child Safety Case

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.

Meta agreed to pay up to $16.68 billion to settle claims from states across the country accusing the tech giant of deliberately designing Facebook and Instagram to addict children and misleading families about the platforms’ safety.

The deal, disclosed Wednesday during a federal trial in California, heads off a major courtroom showdown over allegations that Meta’s platforms contributed to a youth mental health crisis while improperly harvesting children’s personal data.

Under the agreement, Meta will also introduce new safeguards for teenage Facebook and Instagram users nationwide, including daily usage limits and restrictions blocking access during nighttime hours.

The company denied wrongdoing in agreeing to the settlement.

The case brought together claims from 29 states alleging Meta violated the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting data from users it knew were children without notifying or obtaining consent from their parents.

States also alleged the company used that information to train machine-learning and generative AI models while California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey separately accused Meta of violating state consumer-protection laws.

Meta said in a pre-trial filing that the four states were seeking as much as $1.4 trillion in penalties, although the states suggested before proceedings began that the potential figure was closer to $200 billion.

Meta has consistently rejected allegations that it knowingly harmed young users, arguing it has invested heavily in protecting children. The company also contended that it could not have deceived consumers over whether its products were addictive because “social media addiction” is not a recognized psychiatric condition.

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