Meta Agrees to Landmark $16.7bn Teen Safety Settlement Over Facebook, Instagram

Meta has agreed to a proposed settlement with US states over allegations that Facebook and Instagram were designed to keep children and teenagers hooked, in a deal that could bring major changes to how young people use the platforms.

The agreement, reached on Wednesday, still requires approval from a judge before it can take effect. If approved, Meta could pay up to $16.7 billion, while introducing new restrictions on teenage accounts, including overnight access limits, daily usage caps and stricter age verification.

Under the proposed settlement, Meta would pay about $11.7 billion in 10 annual instalments. An additional $5 billion would become payable if competing social media platforms agree to similar settlements. Meta would also pay $75 million in legal costs and $459 million to resolve older claims linked to the Cambridge Analytica data scandal.

The agreement would also introduce a default overnight block for teenage accounts. Within six months, teenagers would be prevented from accessing the wider Facebook and Instagram platforms between midnight and 6am local time, while push notifications would be disabled from 10pm to 7am. Messaging and account settings would remain available in a limited form.

Teenagers would also have a default two-hour daily limit for cumulative use of Meta’s apps. Messaging and long-form video would not count toward the limit, while teenagers would be unable to change the restrictions without parental approval. If rival platforms introduce comparable measures, the proposed rules would become stricter, with overnight access reduced to 10pm–7am and usage limited to 60 minutes per app, subject to a two-hour total.

Meta would have four months to offer teenagers a feed that is not algorithmically personalised. Like counts would be hidden by default, while cosmetic surgery filters would be prohibited. Notifications would also be silenced during designated school hours on weekdays during the school year.

Age verification would become another major requirement. Meta would have one year to introduce an age-assurance system capable of meeting specified accuracy standards, while accounts whose ages remain unverified after 14 days would be treated as teenage accounts regardless of the age provided. For users under 13, Meta would be required to presume an account is underage unless there is evidence showing otherwise.

Parents would receive greater oversight under the agreement, including daily notifications showing how much time their teenagers spend on the platforms. They would also be able to review settings and adjust designated school hours.

The settlement would further require Meta to respond to reports of illegal or offensive material from teenagers within six hours in at least 90 per cent of cases submitted in English or Spanish. An independent auditor would monitor compliance for 10 years, while a separate ruling would prohibit Meta from making false or misleading claims about its safety features.