Meta Reaches $17 Billion Instagram and Facebook Addiction Lawsuit Settlement With 29 States

Company has also agreed to impose two-hour daily limits for minors, restrict nighttime access and strengthen content filtering and parental controls.

The parent company of Facebook and Instagram will pay 29 states up to $17 billion to resolve claims that the apps intentionally attempted to foster harmful social media addictions among U.S. children.

The original lawsuit was filed by states’ attorneys general in October 2023, alleging Meta used intrusive algorithms to “entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens.” It also claimed Meta misled the public about the safety of its platforms, while ignoring evidence that social media use was contributing to mental health problems among young people.

School districts have filed similar lawsuits against Meta and other social media companies, seeking to recover costs associated with addressing student mental health, behavioral and academic problems allegedly linked to excessive social media use.

Separately, Meta is one of several major social media companies facing thousands of social media addiction lawsuits filed by young users and their families. Those individual injury claims seek compensation for mental health problems and other harms allegedly caused by prolonged and addictive use of the platforms.

The lawsuits generally allege Meta, Google, TikTok, Snapchat and other companies intentionally incorporated algorithms, notifications, endless scrolling and other features designed to keep young users engaged for prolonged periods. Plaintiffs claim those features can contribute to anxiety, depression, eating disorders, declining academic performance, behavioral problems, self-harm and suicide.

Due to common questions of fact and law, all federal social media addiction lawsuits are consolidated into a multidistrict litigation (MDL) in the Northern District of California before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

The judge has launched a plan to hold early “bellwether” trials designed to give plaintiffs and defendants an opportunity to see how juries respond to evidence and testimony likely to be repeated.

States Social Media Addiction Settlement

The litigation involved claims brought by 29 attorneys general nationwide. Meta says several states, including California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Mexico, had sought as much as $1.4 trillion in damages over alleged harms Facebook and Instagram caused to young users.

However, after months of intense pretrial maneuvering ahead of the first bellwether trials, the parties announced today that they had reached a resolution. A joint motion to enter consent judgment (PDF) outlines a $17 billion social media addiction lawsuit settlement that would resolve the states’ claims against Meta.

The deal will initially include Meta paying the states $12.19 billion, which it will increase to $17.1 billion if the states can get the owners of other social media platforms, like TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube, to also agree to the settlement.

In addition, Meta has agreed to restrict minors to two-hour time limits, nighttime restrictions and more robust content filters and parental controls. The two-hour limit will be reduced to one hour per day if other social media companies sign onto the deal, and no minor under the age of 18 would be able to use Facebook or Instagram between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m.

The deal also would include a ban on showing how many “likes” a minor’s post receives, restrictions on the use of cosmetic filters by minors, which can help disguise their age, options for non-personalized feeds and numerous other safety measures, according to a press release by California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

“Meta has agreed to make massive transformations that will reduce the risk of harm from its platforms — and will do it within months. We are talking about time limits, stopping notifications during school, a block on the app during critical overnight hours, bans on plastic surgery filters, and so much more. Alongside a bipartisan coalition of my colleagues, I am proud to deliver this settlement that addresses the concerns at the core of our lawsuit and institutes real change, real transparency, and real enforceable protections for children on Facebook and Instagram — right now, no more waiting.”

– California Attorney General Rob Bonta

Social Media Addiction Lawsuit Trials

Other bellwether trial preparations continue to move forward for lawsuits filed by individuals and school districts. The first of those trials was expected to start in June but was canceled after Meta reached a settlement with the Breathitt County School District. The terms of that agreement have not been disclosed.

The next federal bellwether trial involving a traditional jury is scheduled to begin February 8, while other cases move toward trial at the state court level.

In March, a California jury ordered Meta and Google to pay $6 million to a woman who says she developed anxiety and depression due to her social media addiction as a minor. Days earlier, a New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay the state $375 million after finding the company liable for contributing to teen social media addiction and related mental health problems.

The outcomes of these early trials are not binding on other claims, but they may provide both sides with important insight into how judges and juries respond to the evidence, legal arguments and alleged harms, potentially influencing future trial strategies and settlement negotiations.

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