Meta has agreed to pay up to $18 billion to settle claims from 29 U.S. states regarding children’s safety on its platforms, including Instagram and Facebook. The lawsuit alleged that Meta knowingly designed these platforms to addict children while being aware of the potential harms, and that the company collected data from children without parental knowledge, violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). By settling, Meta avoids admitting guilt but demonstrates a reluctance to proceed to a jury trial [https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/26/meta-settles-for-18-billion-in-lawsuit-brought-by-29-states-over-social-media-harms-to-children/].

As part of the settlement, Meta is introducing a set of protections for teens and parental controls, developed in collaboration with 52 state attorneys general, pending judicial approval. These measures, to remain in place for 10 years, include strengthening efforts to prevent adults from interacting with teens, enhancing parental controls, and improving response times to reports of harmful content. Additionally, direct messages will not be subject to time limits or muted notification periods to allow teens to stay connected. Notably, 30% of the settlement (approximately $5.3 billion) will be paid only if YouTube and TikTok implement similar protections, such as a one-hour daily time limit, Night Mode, and age assurance measures, and agree to match the payment amount. Meta’s Chief Legal Officer, C.J. Mahoney, emphasized the need for an industry-wide solution due to teens’ fluid movement across multiple apps [https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/26/meta-settles-for-18-billion-in-lawsuit-brought-by-29-states-over-social-media-harms-to-children/].

This is a summary. Read the original at techcrunch.com.