Meta Settles With 29 US States Over Allegations That Facebook and Instagram Harmed Children

Meta Platforms reached a settlement with a coalition of 29 US state attorneys general to resolve claims that the company deliberately designed Facebook and Instagram to addict children and teenagers, misled consumers about platform safety, and improperly collected personal data from children under 13 without parental consent. The settlement was confirmed in court filings on August 26. The case had been in active trial, in its second week in federal court in Oakland, California, when the deal was reached, a moment that heightened the stakes considerably as states were seeking both massive financial penalties and mandatory changes to how Meta's platforms operate.

The allegations centered on Meta knowingly engineering addictive features that contributed to a youth mental-health crisis and violated child-privacy laws. Terms of the settlement, including any financial penalties or required operational changes to how the platforms engage with young users and collect their data, were not immediately disclosed in the filings.