New York Attorney General Letitia James and a bipartisan coalition of 50 other attorneys general secured up to $17.1 billion from Meta on August 26, 2026, marking the largest settlement ever reached with a single company in the history of the New York Attorney General’s Office. The landmark deal resolves claims that Facebook and Instagram were designed with intentionally addictive features that harmed children’s mental health.
Under the settlement, Meta will pay at least $12.1 billion to the coalition states immediately, with the full $17.1 billion contingent on other major social media companies reaching similar settlements in future cases. New York will receive at least $819 million and up to $1.15 billion, funds intended to support mental health services, education programs, and initiatives to repair the harms of unhealthy social media use among young people.
The settlement requires Meta to implement sweeping changes to Facebook and Instagram. Users under 18 will face a combined two-hour daily time limit across both platforms, which can only be disabled with parental permission. Meta must also restrict minors from accessing the platforms between midnight and 6 a.m. and disable push notifications during school hours and between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
Meta will implement stronger age verification to identify users under 18, using a process similar to New York’s nation-leading Safe for Kids Act signed into law in 2024. The company must offer minors the option to use non-algorithmic feeds showing only chronologically ordered content from accounts they follow. Meta will also pause content and send mindfulness reminders after 60 and 90 minutes of daily use.
The lawsuit, filed in October 2023, alleged that Meta designed algorithms to recommend content that would maximize time on its platforms and deployed features like infinite scroll and incessant notifications to make it harder for young users to disengage. According to the NY Attorney General’s office, Meta’s platforms steered young people toward dangerous content, including posts promoting eating disorders and self-harm, while the company deceptively claimed its features were not manipulative.
The restrictions will remain in place for at least five years and will strengthen if other major social media platforms reach similar settlements. A second phase lasting ten years would impose even stricter limits, restricting night access from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., disabling all push notifications, and limiting users under 18 to 60 minutes per day on each Meta platform.
This settlement dwarfs previous tech enforcement actions. In 2019, the Federal Trade Commission imposed a $5 billion penalty against Facebook for privacy violations—then a record for any company—but the Meta settlement is more than three times larger. The 2019 FTC case focused on data privacy; this multistate action centers on the addictive design of the platforms themselves and their impact on youth mental health.
Attorney General James stated, “Children in New York and nationwide are suffering while companies like Meta reap immense profits by intentionally addicting them to their social media platforms. With significant new resources for our communities and comprehensive restrictions on Meta’s platforms for young people, we are taking a major step towards breaking the cycle of social media addiction.”
The settlement remains subject to court approval. James indicated that the framework sets a standard for future enforcement actions, noting that restrictions will strengthen if other social media companies reach similar settlements—a signal that TikTok and other platforms may face comparable pressure. In October 2024, James sued TikTok for harming children’s mental health, a case that continues.
Sources
- New York Attorney General — official press release confirming settlement amount, state allocation, and specific safety requirements
- CBS News — settlement amount and court approval status
- AP News — Meta settlement and child-safety measures
- The Washington Post — settlement details and initial payment structure
- The Guardian — safety features including daily usage limits and night-time blocks
- Federal Trade Commission — 2019 Facebook $5 billion settlement for precedent comparison
