Meta to Pay Up to $16.68 Billion to Settle With US States on Teen Social Media Addiction

Instagram and Facebook’s parent company, Meta, has struck a deal with the 29 US states currently suing the tech giant for intentionally designing its social media platforms to be addictive and harmful to children and teens. Reuters first reported the settlement Wednesday, saying the company could pay up to $16.68 billion, which is less than 10% of its 2025 annual revenue ($201 billion).

The settlement allows CEO Mark Zuckerberg and the company to avoid a high-stakes trial, whose consequences could have remade how the tech industry operates. The proposed agreement will need to be approved by the court, but it brings 52 US attorneys general into the deal, not just those who were party to the original lawsuit.

Under the new rules, Meta will enforce default daily usage limits, including blocks during school hours and at nighttime. It will also implement more rigorous age-verification measures, court filings on Wednesday show.

“Today, we have secured a settlement with Meta that will make social media less dangerous for our kids and make a world of difference for children and their families,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who led the case, said in a statement Wednesday.

Social media giants like Meta and Google-owned YouTube have been under intense scrutiny in recent years for how well (or poorly) they protect their youngest users. In two separate landmark cases preceding this one, Meta was ordered to pay $375 million to the state of New Mexico after a jury ruled the company enabled child exploitation online. A day later, a Los Angeles court ordered Meta and Google to pay a combined $3 million in damages for similar claims.

In a blog post, Meta calls on TikTok and YouTube to join its efforts. “While this is an important step, the fact is that teens move fluidly between dozens of apps a day. All platforms should empower parents and support teens by putting the same measures in place, because we know that when teens are restricted on one app, they simply move to another,” the company wrote.

Meta did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.

This is a developing story.

Katelyn Chedraoui

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Katelyn is a reporter with CNET covering artificial intelligence, including chatbots, image and video generators. Her work explores how new AI technology is infiltrating our lives, shaping the content we consume on social media and affecting the people behind the screens. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in media and journalism. You can reach her at kchedraoui@cnet.com.

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