States hail multibillion‑dollar Meta settlement over youth safety concerns

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Dozens of states have reached a sweeping consumer settlement with Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, after accusing the social media giant of deliberately designing its platforms to keep children and teenagers addicted.

The agreement follows a federal trial in California and still requires a judge's approval.

State leaders in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware praised what they called a historic $18 billion settlement.

Under the nationwide agreement, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey will receive hundreds of millions of dollars.

Officials emphasized that while Meta's $18 billion nationwide payout represents a small fraction of a company valued at $1.5 trillion, the safeguards included in the settlement are what they consider most critical.

"It represents a seismic change," said Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings.

Jennings described the settlement as lasting change for Facebook and Instagram, which she and others accused of creating addictive and harmful content.

Delaware will receive roughly $100 million over 10 years.

"We were committed to real change with this suit and real change going forward," Jennings said.

As part of the historic settlement, Meta must implement new youth controls for users under 18.

Those include daily use limits with a two-hour maximum that include 15-minute pauses after continuous use, improved age verification measures and restricted access that limits use during school hours and from midnight to 6 a.m.

"Parents will have more user-friendly tools to better understand what their children are looking at and how they are using the platform," Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said.

He noted Pennsylvania will receive more than $500 million, as will New Jersey.

All three states could receive tens of millions more if TikTok and YouTube adopt similar changes.

Critics, however, argue the financial penalties are not steep enough for a company Meta's size.

As part of the settlement, Meta did not admit wrongdoing.

In a video statement, Meta said it remains committed to a safe and productive experience and called for broader industry changes.

"This framework will only work if all of our peers join us... because teens move fluidly between different apps... we need an industry-wide solution," said C.J. Mahoney, Meta's chief legal officer.

A federal judge must still approve the settlement.

If that happens, Meta will have six months to implement the required safeguards.