Meta settles for $18 billion in lawsuit brought by 29 states over social media harms to children

The tech giant Meta Platforms has reached a settlement of US$17 billion to end a landmark trial in the United States over teen social media addiction and claims of harmful design features on its Facebook and Instagram platforms. The deal is expected to put an end to legal proceedings, which were initially to take place in federal court in California, and would have seen CEO Mark Zuckerberg testify before a jury.

The lawsuit, filed by 47 US states including California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey, accused Meta of intentionally deceiving the public about the addictive and harmful nature of its platforms. The settlement, which is significantly smaller than the company's 2025 revenue of US$201 billion, will also see Meta add child-safety measures to its platforms.

These include a hard cap on daily time limits, elimination of push notifications during school hours, and robust age assurance measures and age-appropriate content controls. Meta will also implement stronger parental controls and limits on social comparison features such as "like" counts. The US$17 billion settlement is a fraction of the company's revenue, and legal experts have noted that the financial penalties could have been as high as US$1.4 trillion.