Meta Faces R287bn Child Safety Settlement Over Facebook and Instagram Claims
Meta Faces R287bn Child Safety Settlement Over Facebook and Instagram Claims. Meta has agreed to pay up to $18 billion, about R287 billion, to settle a major lawsuit brought by 47 US states, the District of Columbia and several US territories over allegations concerning the impact of Facebook and Instagram on children and teenagers.
The agreement, reported on 26 August 2026, could become one of the largest settlements involving a technology company. Meta has denied wrongdoing.
The lawsuit, filed in 2023, alleged that Meta designed its platforms to encourage children and teenagers to remain engaged for extended periods and failed to adequately address potential risks to young users.
The claims also included allegations that Meta violated child privacy laws by collecting information from users under the age of 13 without parental consent.
Under the proposed settlement, Meta would introduce additional safety measures for teenage users on Facebook and Instagram. These include a default two-hour daily usage limit for users under 18 and restrictions on overnight access between midnight and 6am.
The proposed measures would also pause notifications during school hours and strengthen age verification and parental controls.
The financial settlement would be paid over a period of 10 years. According to the terms outlined, approximately $12.7 billion would be guaranteed, while a further $5 billion would depend on rival social media platforms, including TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat, adopting similar youth safety measures.
Meta has maintained that it has already invested significantly in tools intended to protect young people on its platforms.
The company has not admitted wrongdoing as part of the agreement, and the settlement still requires court approval before the proposed measures can take effect.
The case comes amid increasing scrutiny of social media platforms and their approach to protecting children and teenagers online.
If approved, the agreement would place financial and operational obligations on Meta while requiring changes to the way younger users access its platforms.
