Meta Platforms has agreed to pay up to $17.1 billion and introduce sweeping child safety measures on Facebook and Instagram, bringing a major US legal battle over the impact of social media on young users to a close.

The settlement, announced on Wednesday, August 26, resolves claims brought by 47 US states and several territories that Meta deliberately designed features on its platforms to encourage excessive use, exposed young users to serious harms and misled the public about the safety of its services. The agreement ranks among the largest state consumer protection settlements in US history outside the major tobacco settlements of the 1990s.

The development marks a significant shift in the regulatory pressure facing major social media platforms. Rather than focusing solely on financial compensation, the agreement requires Meta to make concrete changes to how young people use its platforms.

Under the new framework, Facebook and Instagram will introduce a combined two hour daily usage limit for teens, with parents able to adjust the restriction. Meta will also introduce prompts after periods of continuous use and additional reminders as users approach longer periods online.

The company will further establish a default nighttime restriction, preventing teen users from accessing key features between midnight and 6am. In addition, a school mode will mute most push notifications between 8am and 3pm on weekdays during the school year, helping reduce interruptions during school hours.

Beyond time management, Meta will strengthen its age assurance systems and introduce tighter content and privacy protections for younger users.

The reforms will also address features linked to social comparison, including visible like counts and certain beauty filters, while expanding parental controls and safeguards against bullying and other age inappropriate content.

Importantly, an independent auditor and the participating states will monitor both the rollout and effectiveness of the new measures, adding an external layer of oversight to the implementation process.

Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones described the agreement as a major step towards holding technology companies accountable for the way their products affect young users.

The settlement also addresses a separate set of allegations involving Meta’s handling of nonpublic Facebook user information and claims surrounding third party data sharing, including issues linked to the Cambridge Analytica controversy.

Meanwhile, Meta has said the agreement should encourage a broader industry response to youth safety and has called on other major social media platforms to adopt comparable protections.

For the wider technology and advertising industries, the settlement could have implications beyond Meta. By tying financial consequences to specific product and safety changes, the agreement strengthens the case for platforms to rethink how they design, measure and monetise engagement among younger audiences.

The development therefore places child safety at the centre of the next phase of social media regulation, while potentially setting a new benchmark for how technology companies balance audience engagement with greater responsibility towards young users.