States win $17.1 billion settlement against Meta over youth mental health

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield announced a $17.1 billion multistate settlement Wednesday with Meta, requiring the company to redesign safety features on Instagram and Facebook for young users. Under the agreement, Oregon will receive more than $125.

The settlement involves 47 states, Washington, D.C., American Samoa, Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands. It addresses claims that Meta designed its platforms to keep children scrolling while providing misleading information to parents and the public regarding youth mental health.

Oregon Rayfield detailed the impact of the agreement on young users and state families. “Kids are not a business model. For too long, Meta chose profit over the well-being of the young people using its platforms and Oregon families paid the price,” Rayfield said. “This settlement changes that – not just with a record payment, but with real, independently verified changes to how these platforms work for kids.”

Under the terms of the settlement, Meta must implement a combined two-hour daily time limit across Instagram and Facebook for minors, featuring mandatory pauses after 15 minutes of continuous use, as well as at 60 and 90 minutes. This daily cap will remain in place for five years, but will drop to 60 minutes for 10 years if platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube adopt similar limits.

The platforms will also enforce nighttime access blocks between midnight and 6 a.m., along with a ban on push notifications for minors from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays during the school year. Meta is required to install stronger age verification systems, more user-friendly parental controls and restrictions on features such as beauty filters and visible like counts.

The agreement mandates stricter controls on content related to bullying, eating disorders, suicide and self-harm. An independent auditor, working alongside the settling states, will regularly verify that Meta implements these product changes and ensure they function as intended.

In addition to the $17.1 billion payout to states, a separate contingency payment of up to $5.7 billion could become available if states reach similar agreements with other social media firms, potentially delivering an extra $54 million to Oregon. The agreement also resolves claims that Meta improperly shared nonpublic Facebook user data with third parties, including political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, prior to the 2016 election, providing Oregon an additional payment of more than $10.1 million.