Meta child safety settlement reaches up to $18 billion as Florida opts out

Meta’s child safety settlement will require changes to Facebook and Instagram for teenage users and could cost the company up to $18 billion over 10 years. The agreement, approved August 26 by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, ended a federal trial over states’ allegations that Meta designed its platforms to encourage compulsive use by children and misled the public about their safety. Meta denied wrongdoing.

The headline figure combines a multistate agreement with a separate Texas deal. Reuters reported that the main settlement can reach about $16.7 billion for 47 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands. Texas settled separately for more than $1 billion. Florida and New Mexico were not part of the multistate agreement.

What does Meta’s child safety settlement change for teens?

Meta said teens will face a default two-hour daily limit across Facebook and Instagram, an overnight block from midnight to 6 a.m., and muted push notifications during school hours, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Parents can override the daily and overnight limits.

According to Meta’s account of the terms, time on both apps counts toward the two-hour total, including use across multiple accounts that it detects. The company also said it will show prompts after 15 minutes of continuous use and at 60 and 90 minutes of total daily use.

The restrictions target time and notifications, rather than the foundations of Meta’s advertising and recommendation systems. Reuters reported that the agreement does not require the company to stop personalized recommendations or targeted advertising. It also does not address certain body-image-related material that Meta researchers had identified as problematic.

Why is the payment described as up to $18 billion?

Much of the stated payout is conditional. Reuters reported that about $12.7 billion of the payments is guaranteed, with another $5 billion tied to whether Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube adopt comparable protections for young users. Ars Technica, citing settlement materials, reported a different minimum figure of about $11.7 billion. The reports agree that the roughly $5 billion component depends on rival platforms taking similar steps, so the final amount is not fixed.

Reuters characterized the up-to-$18-billion total as roughly three to four months of Meta profit and about one month of its revenue. That is a financial comparison, not a measure of whether the deal will change the company’s conduct.

Why did Florida reject the Meta settlement?

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said Florida did not join the agreement. In a post on X, he called the payouts “peanuts” relative to the alleged harm to children and a “slap on the wrist,” adding: “We’ll see them at trial.” His statement is Florida’s litigation position, not a finding on the adequacy or validity of the approved settlement.

The agreement resolves a major state action, but it does not end the wider legal pressure on the sector. Reuters reported that Meta, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube still face thousands of lawsuits brought by individuals, school districts, municipalities and other public entities over alleged harm to young users. Participating governments may use settlement money for youth crisis services, mental-health programs, public-health advertising, grants and related teen-safety work.

This story draws on original reporting from Ars Technica.