Here’s what Meta’s $18 billion multistate settlement could mean for kids — and for its bottom line

New York —  Meta on Wednesday agreed to make sweeping changes to its platforms as part of an $18 billion settlement with dozens of states over claims its platforms contributed to a youth mental health crisis. Regulators and online safety advocates called it a watershed moment, and both Meta and state attorneys general

A study that collected 11 years’ worth of data from 183,000 adults, with findings published in npj Mental Health Research, found something studies keep finding again and again: The more we’re on it, the worse our mental health. How much is too much? The researchers say there is an upper time limit you should try…

Facebook owner Meta is to pay £13billion after a legal battle to resolve claims that Facebook and Instagram harmed children's mental health

Alexander Isak tossed his jersey to a young soccer fan after Liverpool's 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest, but a man appeared to intercept it.

THE world is waking up to the fact that social media is the tobacco of our time. All-pervasive. Addictive. Toxic. And this stuff can kill you. In a landmark legal case in the US, Meta — the owner of Instagram and Facebook — has agreed to pay up to £13billion to settle claims brought by...

Tech giant Meta settled a series of multistate social media addiction lawsuits, agreeing to pay out up to $17 billion. In addition, Meta will roll out some changes to its portfolio of social media apps, including Instagram, Facebook and others.

State attorneys general spent months in negotiations. Then, as its legal losses mounted, the social media giant’s new top lawyer brought a huge settlement to the table.

Social media giant Meta has agreed to pay $18 billion and make major changes to Facebook and Instagram to resolve claims by US states but what will it mean for users in Ireland?

"Meta is seeking to ensure its competitors will face the same rules," one business professor told CNBC after Meta called on rivals to protect children online.

Mothers who blame social media for their kids’ death react to Meta settlement  CNN

Experts said it makes sense for Meta to roll out its restrictions elsewhere, and that the growing awareness of social media harms may pressure other platforms to do the same.

The deeper lesson of is that product design, as a site of legal accountability, is a workable legal strategy.

Meta pays under 1% of a year's revenue and admits no wrongdoing. US teens get new controls. Rivals TikTok and YouTube to face similar pressure.

Other governments could seek similar concessions, while separate legal action is pending in places ranging from Kenya to the Netherlands In October 2021, Abrham Meareg’s father, a professor of chemistry in Ethiopia’s northern town of Bahir Dar, was shot at close range and died outside his family home. This was in the m

Meta’s settlement with 29 states allows it to retain certain data from children under 13 to train and test age-detection models, highlighting a privacy trade-off built into the deal.

Meta settlement opens new front in global fight over social media harm  Reuters

Meta's US settlement feels like a PR win for its team, even as critics like ex-Meta executive Arturo Bejar slam the company by calling the settlement insufficient

Guardrails can only work as well as a company's ability to accurately identify a user's age, and young people around the world have repeatedly found ways to get past restrictions.

The world’s biggest social media company is implementing new safety features for American teenagers as part of an $18-billion settlement in the U.S.—but won’t be doing the same in Canada.

Meta's decision to settle the case on Wednesday came as a surprise.

Meta will pay $16.7 billion to settle a lawsuit brought by 29 state attorneys general over the mental health risks posed to children by its platforms.

Meta just agreed to make sweeping changes to protect young people online. But the settlement leaves its fundamentally harmful business model intact, writes Emily Cherkin.

Meta has agreed to an $18 billion settlement in a major child safety case tied to claims that social media platforms can harm young users. John Demay, whose son Jordan died after an online sextortion scheme, speaks with NBC News' Tom Llamas about his fight to make social media safer for children and families.

"Balance of Power: Late Edition" focuses on the intersection of politics and global business. On today's show, Mark Zandi, Chief Economist at Moody’s Analytics, says Nvidia is a “juggernaut” and that AI accounts for at least a quarter of economic growth. Zandi thinks AI is already supporting the demand side of the econ

Almost all U.S. states are using litigation to impose kids' protections that Congress failed to pass.

Mark Zuckerberg has agreed to make changes to Facebook and Instagram that could change social media forever

California and New York are leading a separate lawsuit against TikTok.

Perhaps our days of doomscrolling are numbered, writes the BBC's technology editor Zoe Kleinman.

Meta vowed to institute sweeping changes to Facebook and Instagram as part of an $18 billion settlement with 48 US states.

“I’m hoping that the settlement hurts Meta a little bit,” one mom said. “I hope that Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t just think that this is the cost of doing business."

Opinion | Meta’s Sensible Social-Media Settlement  WSJ

A settlement announced Wednesday between Meta and dozens of states resolves one of its biggest legal fights, but the social media giant is still facing litigation elsewhere over its products’ effects on young people’s mental health

Meta reaches landmark $18 billion settlement with states in trial over teen social media addiction  AP News

The states claimed Meta was ⁠violating the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting children's personal data without parental notification or consent.

A nationwide social media addiction trial against Meta came to an abrupt end on Wednesday, with the company announcing a sweeping settlement with 52 attorneys general. As part of the proposed settlement, the company promised to pay around $18 billion to participating states over a ten-year period and enact a set of cha

Meta has agreed to pay up to $18 billion and add stronger child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms as part of a landmark legal settlement

Meta has agreed to a settlement worth $16.7 billion to 47 states, the District of Columbia, and multiple U.S. territories, and it could change social media as we know it.  The settlement agreement, which was filed on August 26 in the U.S. Northern District of California in Oakland, comes days into a landmark social med

Minnesota will get at least $214 million from a settlement that is worth a minimum of $12.2 billion. The social media giant that owns Instagram and Facebook is also changing its products in the face of mounting public pressure.

The tech giant Meta has agreed to pay up to $18bn and add child safety measures to settle claims brought by dozens of US states that its platforms harmed children.

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield heralded the settlement, saying “our children are not a business model.”

‘Social media killed my child. Meta’s settlement is a triumph and a tragedy’  The Times

Meta agrees to $17bn settlement over claims of child social media addiction  thenationalnews.com

The social-media giant’s agreement with state officials removes a cloud that was hanging over its stock, analysts say.

Plus: 🎤Looking back on Dolly Parton’s legacy {beacon}   It’s Wednesday. How many Dolly Parton videos did you watch yesterday? Send us some of your favorites and we’ll share throughout the week.     We’ll get it started with this classic duet with Kenny Rogers.     In today’s issue: Meta pays $17B to settle…

Meta has agreed to pay $17 billion and add stronger child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms to end a landmark trial over teen social media addiction and settle claims filed by 47 states, state attorneys general announced Wednesday.

Meta agreed for the next decade to restrict teenagers' use of Facebook and Instagram to two hours a day and block all usage from midnight to 6 a.m., absent parental consent.

Meta agreed to change Instagram and Facebook in a settlement resolving a case brought by states that accused the company of designing addictive products for children.

Case relating to alleged failures of child protection was getting under way in California

Mark Zuckerberg's Meta agreed to pay roughly $18 billion to settle a lawsuit brought by 29 states over allegations that Facebook and Instagram harmed children through addictive design.

State of the Union: In a landmark settlement, the tech giant also agreed to limit some of its platforms’ most addictive features.

Meta has settled out of a landmark social media addiction trial, agreeing to pay $17 billion to state authorities and making safety changes to its platform.

Meta has agreed to settle a lawsuit over concerns that its platforms harmfully addict young people. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images Meta agreed to settle a teen addiction lawsuit for up to $18 billion on Wednesday. States brought the suit against the social media giant in 2023. Meta agreed to make changes to its products,

Meta had been accused of collecting data from children aged 13 and under without their parents' consent as well as designing social media platforms to keep young people addicted

Meta Will Pay Billions to Avoid Jury in Addiction Trial  New York Magazine

Meta reaches $17 billion settlement with states, including Illinois, in landmark trial over teen social media addiction  Chicago Tribune

Meta has agreed to pay up to $17.1 billion and make sweeping changes to Facebook and Instagram to settle allegations that it designed its platforms to addict children while misleading the public about their risks. The proposed agreement resolves claims by 51 states and territories, including a federal case involving 29

August 26, 2026 10:49 AM ET Meta settled Wednesday in its multi-state lawsuit over alleged child social media addiction claims. The big tech platform agreed to the $17 billion settlement with California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey in People of the State of California, et al. v. Meta Platforms, Inc. in Oakland, C

Meta has agreed to pay $17 billion and add child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms to end a landmark trial over teen social media addiction and settle claims filed by 47 states, state attorneys general announced Wednesday. Illinios, California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey were among 28 state

The $17 billion settlement is a fraction of Meta's 2025 revenue of $201 billion.

Meta agreed to implement new safety measures, including a default two-hour daily limit for using Facebook and Instagram, for users under the age of 18

Meta settles for $17 billion in landmark trial over teen social media addiction  ITVX

Meta has agreed to pay up to $17.1 billion in a settlement with 48 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands, for the harm that its social media platforms have done to kids and teenagers.  Under the terms of the settlement, the company will agree to put a cumulative two

Meta Platforms has agreed to pay US$17 billion and add child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms to end a landmark trial over teen social media addiction and settle claims filed by 47 US states, state attorneys general announced on Wednesday. California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey were among

In addition to sending billions of dollars to states, Meta will make substantive changes to its platforms as part of a landmark settlement.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and coalition of 51 attorneys unveiled a proposed settlement with social media giant Meta — parent of Facebook, Intstagram and WhatsApp — for up to $17 billion along with remedies designed to help protect teens from alleged mental health harms associated with social media use, the

Meta has agreed to a wide-ranging deal settling all claims in US federal and state courts which alleged the company's platforms harmed children.

The tech giant has agreed to add child safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms in the settlement, ending a landmark trial in the US.

The tech giant has agreed to add child safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms in the settlement, ending a landmark trial in the US.

Meta has agreed to pay $17 billion and add child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms to end a landmark trial over teen social media addiction and settle claims filed by 47 states, state attorneys general announced Wednesday.

A bipartisan coalition of states and U.S. territories accused the company of deliberately designing features to get children hooked on Facebook and Instagram.

Meta Agrees To $16.68 Billion Settlement In Social Media Addiction Trial  Forbes

California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey were among 29 US states that sued the tech giant in 2023.

Meta will pay up to $18 billion over 10 years — and implement broad child-safety reforms on Instagram and Facebook — under a nationwide settlement with 52 state attorneys general, including California’s Rob Bonta. The agreement, subject to court approval, resolves claims by the state AGs that Meta designed Instagram wi

Meta agrees to $16.6bn settlement in landmark social media addiction trial - but denies wrongdoing  lbc.co.uk

The settlement was reached during a California federal trial, averting one of the highest-profile tests yet of allegations that social media companies harmed young users.

Tech company faces accusations it designed Instagram, Facebook to addict children and misled consumers about their safety

Meta has agreed to pay up to $18bn (£13.2bn) to dozens of US states to settle claims that its social media platforms harmed children.

A loss at trial could expose Meta to penalties of as much as $1.4 trillion, while a settlement would likely be far smaller