Meta reaches $18 billion deal with 52 attorneys general on teen safety

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) has reached an agreement with a bipartisan group of 52 attorneys general across U.S. states, territories, and the District of Columbia to impose new restrictions on how teenagers use Instagram and Facebook, pending judicial approval.

The agreement requires Meta to pay approximately $18 billion, distributed in annual installments over 10 years. Participating states will receive about 70%, or roughly $12.7 billion, of the total. The remaining 30%, approximately $5.3 billion, is contingent on TikTok and YouTube each implementing a one-hour daily time limit, a night mode feature, and age assurance measures, and each making a matching payment.

Meta said it expects to record a legal expense of approximately $10 billion in the third quarter of 2026 related to the agreement, a charge not included in the expense guidance provided during its second-quarter earnings call. The company said all other guidance ranges from its July earnings release remain unchanged.

Under the terms, teens on Instagram and Facebook will be subject to a default two-hour cumulative daily time limit that requires parental permission to remove, app access blocked between midnight and 6 a.m., and muted notifications during school hours from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Additional measures include hidden like counts, restrictions on certain cosmetic filters, and enhanced parental controls. Most terms are required to remain in place for 10 years.

If TikTok and YouTube adopt the same framework, the daily time limit would tighten to one hour per app and night mode hours would expand to 10 p.m. through 7 a.m.

The agreement also establishes an independent social media research foundation and requires an independent auditor to review Meta's compliance annually for five years.

"We therefore call on our industry peers, TikTok and YouTube, to implement this new framework, right away," said C.J. Mahoney, Meta's Chief Legal Officer.

You May Also Be Interested In

• ADARx Pharmaceuticals files for proposed IPO
• DTE Energy board director David Thomas to retire after 13 years
• Spartacus Metals holds AGM, all resolutions passed