Meta agrees to US$18 billion settlement over teen social media use

Meta has reached an agreement with a bipartisan group of US state attorneys general involving a payment of approximately US$18 billion and a series of changes to how teenagers use Facebook and Instagram.

The agreement, announced by Meta on 26 August 2026, follows a landmark case in which US states alleged that the company's social media platforms were addictive and had harmed children.

Amnesty International USA welcomed the agreement but said further changes to the design of social media platforms were needed to protect children and young people.

Justin Mazzola, Amnesty International USA's deputy director of research, described the settlement as a potential turning point for the wider social media industry.

“The settlement is a turning point not just for Meta, but all social media,” Mazzola said.

He said platforms should change the way they operate and address features that could contribute to harm among children and young people.

Settlement includes new restrictions for teenagers

Under the agreement, which remains subject to judicial approval, the new protections will automatically apply to users under 18 on Facebook and Instagram in participating US states and territories.

Most of the provisions will remain in place for 10 years.

The measures include a default two-hour daily time limit across Facebook and Instagram. Teenagers will only be able to turn off the limit with permission from a parent.

Time spent on both platforms will count towards the combined limit, including time spent on multiple accounts where Meta detects that a user has more than one.

Meta will also introduce a default Night Mode, blocking teenagers from using the apps between midnight and 6am. During those hours, users will not be able to post or view features including Feed, Stories, Explore or Reels.

A School Mode will mute notifications between 8am and 3pm. Direct messages and notifications concerning account security or safety will remain available.

Teenagers will also receive prompts after every 15 minutes of continuous screen time, as well as when their total daily use reaches 60 and 90 minutes.

Teenagers to receive more control over feeds

The agreement also contains changes to how content is presented to teenagers.

Users will be able to select a non-algorithmic feed as their default, meaning content will not be personalised by Meta's recommendation systems. Parents will also be able to require this setting for their teenagers.

Teenagers will be able to disable autoplay, requiring them to take an action such as tapping or swiping before viewing additional content.

The number of likes and reactions on posts will also be hidden from teenagers by default, both for their own posts and those made by other users.

Meta said it would additionally block teenagers from using extreme makeup filters, alongside its existing restrictions on cosmetic surgery filters.

The company will strengthen age-assurance technology to identify accounts that may belong to children under 13 and to identify users aged between 13 and 17 who may have provided an adult date of birth.

Parental controls and protection from strangers

The agreement includes additional parental controls.

Meta will encourage parents to use its supervision tools and provide new information and controls. Parents will be notified if a teenager links a secondary account, while alerts will be issued regarding interactions with potentially suspicious accounts.

Parents will also receive periodic updates about their teenager's usage and attempts to change protective settings.

Meta said teenagers would continue to receive private-account defaults on Instagram and private default settings on Facebook. The company also said it would strengthen measures designed to prevent suspicious adults from finding, following or interacting with teenagers.

The company will continue providing tools for teenagers to report content and said it would work to improve response times.

Direct messaging is excluded from the Night Mode, Time Limit and School Mode restrictions, allowing teenagers to remain in contact with friends and family.

Amnesty says more changes are needed

Amnesty International said Meta's proposed changes represented progress but did not go far enough to create a fully safe platform that respects children's rights.

The organisation highlighted algorithmically personalised feeds in particular.

Mazzola said Amnesty research had shown that hyper-personalised feeds could be harmful to children and noted that such feeds would remain switched on by default under the agreement.

“For years, Amnesty International, civil society and harmed individuals have warned that major social media platforms have been designed to maximise engagement and profit, while failing to adequately protect children's rights,” he said.

Amnesty said child safety should be incorporated into platform design from the beginning rather than introduced after harm had been identified.

States filed lawsuit against Meta in 2023

The case began in 2023, when US states sued Meta, accusing the company of violating privacy laws and deliberately designing products that were addictive to children.

Meta denied the allegations.

The agreement announced this week involves a bipartisan group of 52 attorneys general from US states, territories and the District of Columbia. Amnesty's statement referred to a settlement involving Meta and 47 US states.

The financial agreement provides for approximately US$18 billion to be paid over 10 years. About 70 per cent, or US$12.7 billion, is expected to be distributed to participating states during that period.

The remaining US$5.3 billion is subject to two conditions involving other major social media platforms, TikTok and YouTube.

Meta calls for TikTok and YouTube to join

Meta said the measures would be more effective if other major platforms adopted similar protections.

The company called on TikTok and YouTube to introduce the same framework, arguing that teenagers move between multiple apps.

If TikTok and YouTube adopt the proposed standard, Meta said certain provisions would become stronger. Its five-year commitments on the daily time limit and Night Mode would be extended to 10 years.

The daily limit would also be reduced to one hour per app, while Night Mode would be extended from 10pm to 7am, compared with the initial midnight-to-6am period.

The agreement would also establish an independent social media research foundation. Meta said it would provide consented user data to the foundation for independent research into teenagers' wellbeing.

An independent auditor would assess Meta's compliance annually for five years and report its findings to participating states.

Meta said it expected to record approximately US$10 billion in legal expenses during the third quarter of 2026 as a result of the agreement.