Meta settles for $18 billion in lawsuit brought by 29 states over social media harms to children
TechCrunch · LC · trust 48/100
Meta settles for $18 billion in lawsuit brought by 29 states over social media harms to children Amanda Silberling 6:43 AM PDT · August 26, 2026 Meta has agreed to pay up to $18 billion to settle claims from 29 U.S. states over children’s safety.
The lawsuit alleged that the social media giant knowingly designed platforms like Instagram and Facebook to addict children, despite knowing about the harms the platforms could pose to young users. The states also claimed that Meta knowingly collected data from children without parental knowledge, which violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
By settling, Meta is not admitting that it’s guilty of these claims, but it shows the company’s reluctance to move forward with a jury trial.
Meta is framing its settlement as a call to action for YouTube and TikTok to adopt a set of protections for teens and controls for parents, which it developed in collaboration with 52 state attorneys general. Pending judicial approval, these protections will include the following terms, which will remain for 10 years:
While Meta already defaults teens into private Facebook and Instagram accounts, the company says it will strengthen its work to prevent adults from finding, following, and interacting with teens. Meta has also vowed to strengthen its existing parental controls and improve its response times to harmful content reports from teens.
Meta adds that direct messages are not included in time limits or muted notification periods so that teens can “stay connected with friends and family.”
Meta’s $18 billion settlement will be distributed to states over a 10-year period, but 30% of that settlement — about $5.3 billion — will only be paid out if YouTube and TikTok implement a one-hour daily time limit, Night Mode, and age assurance measures. These platforms must also agree to pay an amount matching the 30% figure.
“Because teens move fluidly across dozens of apps, we need an industry-wide solution,” Meta’s Chief Legal Officer, C.J. Mahoney, said in a statement. “We therefore call on our industry peers, TikTok and YouTube, to implement this new framework, right away.”
Meta says that it will pay a $10 billion legal expense in the third quarter of this year, which will impact the company’s expenses and profit; however, Meta’s stock has risen on the news of the settlement.
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Amanda Silberling is a senior writer at TechCrunch covering the intersection of technology and culture. She has also written for publications like Polygon, MTV, the Kenyon Review, NPR, and Business Insider. She is the co-host of Wow If True, a podcast about internet culture, with science fiction author Isabel J. Kim. Prior to joining TechCrunch, she worked as a grassroots organizer, museum educator, and film festival coordinator. She holds a B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania and served as a Princeton in Asia Fellow in Laos.
You can contact or verify outreach from Amanda by emailing amanda@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message at @amanda.100 on Signal.
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