Meta Settles Child-Safety Lawsuits for $18B, Imposes Teen App Limits

Meta $META settles state child-safety lawsuits for $18B and limits teen screen time. Meta agreed to a maximum $16.7 billion settlement across 47 states and territories, alongside a separate $1 billion deal for Texas. The platform will enforce a default two-hour cumulative daily limit for users under 18 across Facebook and Instagram. The agreement requires a default app block between midnight and 6 am and mutes notifications from 8 am to 3 pm. Meta saves $5 billion on its total payout if rivals like TikTok, YouTube, and Snapchat don't agree to similar terms. Florida rejected the multi-state agreement and plans to proceed to trial, arguing the penalty doesn't cover a decade of harm. "Trying to wipe out a decade of harm to the nation’s youth with one month’s cash flow is an insult." — James Uthmeier Meta just bought its way out of a trillion-dollar liability, and it's using the penalty structure to force competitors into the exact same engagement-killing restrictions.