Meta Platforms agreed this Wednesday to pay approximately 18 billion dollars to settle a lawsuit filed by 52 state attorneys general in the United States, who accused the company of designing Facebook and Instagram with deliberately addictive mechanics that harmed the mental health of millions of teenagers.
The announcement came during the second week of the federal trial held in Oakland, California, one day after Instagram's director, Adam Mosseri, testified in court. The agreement still requires approval from a judge.
The question raised by the headline of the 18 billion is immediate: Who receives that money? The answer is clear: it will not go directly to teenagers or their families as individual compensation, but to the states involved in the lawsuit.
The payment strategy and the context of the case
NBC News reported on the terms of the settlement. The 70% of the total —approximately 12.7 billion dollars— will be distributed among the states over ten years in annual installments, aimed at funding online youth safety initiatives and mental health programs.
California, which led the lawsuit under the leadership of Attorney General Rob Bonta, could receive between 1.5 billion and 2.1 billion dollars according to state estimates.
The remaining 30% —approximately 5.3 billion— is contingent upon YouTube and TikTok implementing equivalent safety measures and contributing a similar amount. In other words, a significant portion of the agreement hinges on Meta's competitors joining the new framework for the protection of minors.
As part of the agreement, Meta pledged to implement a series of specific changes for users under 18 years old:
- Daily limit of two hours of cumulative use on Facebook and Instagram, enabled by default and can only be disabled with parental permission.
- Predefined nighttime blocks and silencing of notifications during school hours.
- Default hiding of "likes" on posts by teenagers.
- Blocking of "extreme makeup filters."
- Option for a non-algorithmic feed as the default setting.
- Disabling auto-play for videos.
- Additional tools for parents and guardians.
Meta denied having responsibility for this issue related to the use of its platforms
Despite the proposed agreement, the company denies the accusations against it and asserts that it "has no responsibility to the plaintiffs," who are a total of 29 states in the California litigation. However, Meta stated that its offer is part of a deal with a bipartisan group of 52 state attorneys general in the United States.
The legal director of Meta, C.J. Mahoney, stated in the official statement: "The framework we have negotiated will allow parents to easily manage how their children access our platforms." He also urged TikTok and YouTube to implement similar measures "immediately."
Prosecutor Bonta, for his part, celebrated the outcome: "Meta has agreed to undertake significant changes that will reduce the risk of harm arising from its platforms, and it will do so within months."
The agreed figure, although historic, represents a minimal fraction of what the prosecutors had initially estimated. At the start of the trial, the states calculated penalties of up to $1.4 trillion, a figure that Meta described as "absurd."
The $18 billion agreement is not the only legal challenge the company is facing. In March 2026, a jury in New Mexico found Meta liable for harm to minors' mental health and imposed a fine of over $900 million, "for deceiving consumers about the safety of its platforms and endangering children."
The case is part of a growing concern about the impact of social media on minors, which has led states like Florida to ban access to these platforms for those under 14 years old.
The agreement reached this Wednesday is the largest to date in this type of litigation and sets a precedent that Mark Zuckerberg wants to extend throughout the industry.
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