Meta Agrees to $18 Billion Landmark Settlement with US States Over Teen Safety

Meta has agreed to a historic $18 billion settlement resolving multi-state litigation brought by 29 state attorneys general who alleged that Instagram and Facebook were intentionally engineered to addict children and young teenagers. As part of the consent decree, Meta will institute sweeping architectural changes to restrict platform access for underage users.

Under the terms of the agreement, accounts belonging to users under 18 will be subject to a strict daily two-hour time limit that can only be unlocked with verified parental permission. Additionally, Meta must disable algorithmic recommendation engines by default for teen profiles during late-night hours.

However, privacy advocates and technology researchers have raised concerns regarding the mandatory age-verification technologies specified in the settlement, noting that biometric facial scanning and government ID checks could introduce fresh privacy vulnerabilities.