Meta has agreed to a teen social media settlement with 51 U.S. states and territories that could cost the company up to $18 billion and impose new limits on teenage use of Facebook and Instagram. Under the deal, teen accounts will be locked out from midnight to 6 a.m. local time, and daily screen time on the two platforms will be capped at two hours. The caps exclude time spent in direct messaging and long‑form video streams.
The agreement resolves a high‑profile California lawsuit and creates the first nationwide framework for teen‑safety rules on major social‑media services. Payments will be made in ten equal annual installments, with California slated to receive between $1.5 billion and $2.1 billion and New York up to $1.13 billion. The settlement does not constitute an admission of liability, and Meta remains exposed to separate personal‑injury and school‑district actions.
An independent auditor, selected jointly by Meta and the participating states, will oversee compliance. Funded by Meta, the auditor will conduct yearly reviews for a decade to verify that the night‑lockout and two‑hour caps are enforced across both platforms. The caps apply to the combined time spent on Facebook and Instagram, but messaging and long‑form video are exempt.
Meta is using the settlement to pressure rivals such as TikTok, Snap and YouTube to adopt similar limits. The company has offered a stricter model—lockout from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. and a 60‑minute daily cap per app—for any platform that follows its lead. While the proposal does not bind competitors legally, it could influence future state or federal legislation.
For teenagers in the 51 signatory states, the new rules will reshape daily routines. Parents and educators now have a regulatory tool to curb late‑night scrolling, a habit linked by researchers to sleep disruption and mental‑health concerns. Advertisers will lose access to teen users during blocked hours, potentially altering revenue calculations for brands targeting younger audiences.
The broader impact will hinge on how quickly other platforms respond and whether lawmakers expand the framework beyond the current signatories. A judge has signaled imminent approval, and the caps will take effect once the court signs off. Observers will watch the independent audits for compliance gaps and monitor whether future litigation forces Meta or its competitors to tighten restrictions further.