Meta Agrees to $17 Billion Settlement Over Teen Addiction Claims

The settlement concludes a legal battle that accused Meta of intentionally designing addictive features while deceiving the public about the impact of its platforms on minors. Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones, whose state is set to receive $353 million, characterized the deal as a landmark achievement in consumer protection, citing Meta’s history of prioritizing engagement over the well-being of young users. The company, which reported $201 billion in revenue for 2025, framed the payment as part of an industry-wide commitment to safety.

Under the terms, Meta must implement a hard cap on daily usage time for minors and disable push notifications during school hours. The company will also introduce stricter age-verification tools and restrict content related to eating disorders and self-harm. While Meta’s head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, defended the platform’s existing safety measures in court, critics remain skeptical. Former Meta engineering director Arturo Bejar testified last week that the company consistently ignored internal warnings about the harm its algorithms inflicted on teenagers to protect profit margins. The agreement ends the trial overseen by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers before Mark Zuckerberg was required to take the stand.