Massachusetts, California, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania among states reaching $17.1 billion settlement with Meta; here is where the money is going

BOSTON – Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell today joined a bipartisan multistate coalition in announcing a landmark $17.1 billion settlement with Meta resolving allegations that the company designed and operated its social media platforms in ways that harmed young people and violated state consumer protection laws. This marks the largest state consumer protection settlement in history outside the Big Tobacco settlements of the 1990s.

“As a mom and as Attorney General, I know that young people deserve to grow up in a world where they can benefit from technology without being exploited by it. We took on Meta because the company chose to put profits ahead of the wellbeing of young people,” said AG Campbell. “This settlement is about more than a financial penalty – it’s about changing the way Big Tech does business. We secured meaningful, long-term changes to Meta’s products and practices, while delivering real resources to Massachusetts. Today is an important step forward, but for our kids and their futures, it’s only the first step.”

Today’s settlement is subject to the court’s approval. In 2021, the Attorney General’s Office co-led a bipartisan, nationwide investigation into Instagram’s impact on young people. In 2023, AG Campbell filed a lawsuit against Meta and Instagram alleging that the company violated state consumer protection law and caused a public nuisance by purposefully designing its Instagram app to addict young users. The lawsuit alleged that Meta knew its practices could harm young people but chose to prioritize growth and revenue instead of implementing changes that could reduce those harms.

In April 2026, Massachusetts secured a significant legal victory in its litigation when the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a federal law that gives online platforms some protections from liability for content posted by their users, does not automatically shield social media companies from claims based on how they design and operate their own products. The first-of-its kind ruling allowed Massachusetts’ case against Meta to proceed and helped paved the way for today’s agreement. 

As a result of today’s settlement, the Commonwealth and Meta will jointly seek the court’s approval of the settlement in the coming days to bring the state’s ongoing litigation against Meta to an end.

If approved by the court, the settlement requires Meta to do the following. Over the course of one year, Meta must implement an enhanced age assurance framework designed to identify users under 13 and users ages 13 to 18 with a high level of accuracy. The framework will not require users to submit government identification or other sensitive information to verify their age.

Users under 13 will not be permitted to use Instagram or Facebook, while teen users, ages 13 to 18, will receive account protections over the next 4 – 6 months, including: 

Default Usage Limits

• A daily time limit of 120 minutes across Instagram and Facebook, helping limit the amount of time teens can spend on Meta’s platforms. 
• Overnight access restrictions, blocking teen user access from 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m., and blocking notifications from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.  
• Silenced notifications during school hours (8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.), reducing interruptions and distractions for teen users. 

Platform Design Changes for Teen Users

• Prompts that present clear options to turn off “autoplay” and personalized algorithmic feed features, which deliver content based on a prediction of what will keep the user on the platform.
• Prominent pauses and breaks at 15 minutes of continuous use and at 60 minutes and 90 minutes of cumulative use that escalate in length and prominence to reduce excessive, mindless, or unintended use.
• Disabling like counts and quantification of other social reactions on teen users’ own posts, reducing negative social comparison and engagement-driven features.
• Disabling filters that mimic cosmetic surgery, limiting exposure to unrealistic and potentially harmful beauty standards.

Content and Account Protections

Meta will implement the following protections for teen users:

• Default teen users into private accounts.
• Stronger protections against unwanted contact from adults, restricting adults whom teens have not affirmatively connected with from messaging teens or viewing their accounts.
• Restrict adults, whom a teen does not affirmatively connect to, from messaging them or seeing their accounts.
• Enhanced parental supervision tools that allow parents to enable protective settings, and receive information on their teens’ time usage, content searches and contact with adults.

The agreement requires Meta to make concrete changes designed to better protect young people and provides Massachusetts with up to $516 million, including approximately $366 million guaranteed to be paid over the next ten years. The $366 million includes money Meta will pay Massachusetts to resolve claims stemming from Facebook’s failure to protect consumer’s private information from misuse by Cambridge Analytica, and Facebook’s alleged subsequent misrepresentations to consumers. 

The funds will go towards efforts to remediate the harms caused by social media to Massachusetts young people, including expanding youth crisis intervention and mental health services; supporting after-school, summer, and outdoor programs; advancing digital wellness and literacy; supporting phone-free school initiatives; and training medical providers on interactive media use and body dysmorphia. A portion of the funds to Massachusetts will also be directed towards the General Fund.

The attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming joined the settlement.