29 states alleged that Meta designed its social media platforms to be addictive to minors and violated children’s privacy laws.
On Wednesday, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, agreed to pay up to US$16.6 billion as part of a settlement to resolve lawsuits filed by several U.S. states alleging that minors were addicted to its social media platforms.
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U.S. authorities accused the technology company of designing its social media platforms to be addictive to minors and misleading the public about the dangers of its platforms, ignoring the harm caused to young people’s mental and physical health, and violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting data from minors.
The agreement avoids a federal trial in California that consolidated claims from 29 states. Meta has accepted the agreement to avoid prolonging the litigation but denies the allegations and any liability.
Mark Zuckerberg’s company also committed to implementing a series of protections for teenage users ages 13 to 17 and for children under 13.
Zuckerberg has 3 days to apologize to India
Otherwise India will pull Meta’s* legal immunity, Indian Express reported.
India called Meta’s “glitch” excuse inadequate for the takedown of PM Modi’s video
It also slammed Meta for failing to remove child abuse content. https://t.co/Mj8i0AiNQv pic.twitter.com/x7NjugAqRy
— Sputnik India (@Sputnik_India) August 5, 2026
These measures include age verification and the removal of accounts belonging to children under 13; blocking notifications by default and general access to the app, except direct messages, during nighttime hours; a default daily usage limit of two hours; and a school mode in which notifications will be silenced during school hours.
Finally, teenagers will receive mandatory notifications after 15, 60 and 90 minutes of continuous use to encourage them to stop using the app.
The settlement announcement came just one day after Instagram head Adam Mosseri testified at the trial in California. Zuckerberg was also expected to testify in the proceedings.
Following the announcement of the agreement, which still requires a judge’s approval, Meta shares rose more than 3% on Wall Street.
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Source: EFE
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