LOS ANGELES—The parent company of Facebook and Instagram, the Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta Platforms, has entered into a settlement with a bipartisan coalition of 52 attorneys general from across the United States, territories, and Washington, D.C. over child safety issues.
The landmark settlement was implemented as a means to overhaul safety and age-appropriate design features on Meta's platforms and to implement age-assurance measures. The settlement also ensures that Meta ends all data collection related to accounts held by minors under the age of 13, which the attorneys general argued was a violation of federal law.
Also outlined in the settlement is a clampdown on so-called "age-inappropriate accounts" with stricter moderation. This is noteworthy because a platform like Instagram is a popular marketing channel for adult content creators, producers and studios. According to the settlement document, these are "accounts that regularly share content that is inappropriate for teens or that have account information that otherwise suggests the account is inappropriate for teen users."
"For the purposes of this agreement, age-inappropriate accounts shall mean accounts that: (1) regularly share age inappropriate content in the following categories: Adult Nudity & Sexual Activity, Restricted Goods & Services, Suicide, Self-Harm or Eating Disorders, or (2) have account names or profile photos or bios that suggest the account is otherwise inappropriate for minors, based on Meta’s policies for the following categories: Adult Nudity & Sexual Activity, Restricted Goods & Services, Suicide, Self-Harm or Eating Disorders," the document explains.
"'Age Inappropriate Content' refers to content that is generally perceived by U.S. parents, youth experts, and teens as not being appropriate for Teen Users," it contunes. "For the purposes of this Agreement, Age Inappropriate Content shall mean content prohibited by Meta’s Community Standards concerning bullying and harassment; nudity and sexual activity; child sexual exploitation, abuse, and nudity; sexually explicit language; suicide, self-harm and eating disorders; graphic violence and incitements to violence; gambling; and restricted substances or goods (including illegal drug use), as well as policies specifically focused on protections for Teen Users, including those regarding high-risk viral challenges and risky stunts."
That is simply one component. According to an announcement issued by the tech giant, the settlement sum is $18 billion—70 percent, or $12.7 billion, will be paid out over a decade to participating states. The remaining 30 percent of the settlement sum, $5.3 billion, will only be disbursed if companies YouTube and TikTok adopt age-assurance and other safety features that are outlined as requirements for Meta to implement across its platforms. In the same announcement, Meta indicated that it will pay $10 billion in legal expenses during the third quarter of 2026.
This is hardly a concern for Meta, though. Upon news of the settlement, the stock price for Meta climbed. As of this writing, Meta has a market capitalization valued at $1.45 trillion.
This settlement also establishes a new framework for online safety and content moderation.
That framework features a plethora of age-appropriate design functionalities and age-restricted content blocks for minors. Nevertheless, what appears to be drawing ire from other technology companies and civil liberties NGOs is the potential privacy risks for both minors and adults invited by broader age verification tech adoption.
The adoption of time limits and strict access rules is to be implemented as well. A minor's account on Facebook or Instagram will have a default time limit of two hours. There is also a nighttime block expected to be implemented, blocking minors from accessing the platforms between midnight and 6 a.m. Only parents can lift the default account usage limits.
The default settings also feature night and schooltime notification blocks, a ban on numbers of reactions on posts made by minors, a ban on beautification and "cosmetic surgery" image filters for minors, and an option for young users to have a feed that is not tailored to their interests by a content recommendation algorithm.
"We work hard to find and remove underage accounts from our apps and, as part of our agreement, we're investing in even stronger technology to proactively catch accounts that may belong to under-13s," the Meta announcement explained. "We're also strengthening the technology we use to identify accounts that may be between the ages of 13 and 17, so we can ensure those accounts are placed in experiences designed for teens, even if they give us an adult birthday."
Adding to the pile of age-verification implementation, Meta also shifted the onus of verifying age to operating systems and app stores like the Apple App Store, which operates across all iOS-powered devices, and Google Play, which operates across all Android-powered devices. "[To] ensure teens are consistently protected across the many apps they use, app stores must provide developers with verified age information," Meta explained. "This will allow platforms to put age-appropriate protections in place for as many teens as possible."
Tech watch group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is alarmed at the settlement. David Greene, senior counsel for EFF, said that the settlement will have far-reaching and harmful implications.
"Under this settlement, young users will now have less access to Meta products, and a lesser ability to exercise their rights to speak, access information and art and culture, associate and form communities, and play," Greene asserted in a statement reacting to Meta's settlement.
"The settlement also embeds age assurance into every product, mandating the collection of even more personal information from users of all ages; this enshrines Meta's harmful surveillance into law, and it will compromise users' privacy and anonymity while increasing their exposure to data breaches and government data requests," Greene explained.
Greene isn't far off when presenting the settlement as a codification, to some degree, of the technology Meta Platforms will implement while also entrenching itself as a virtual state actor. Considering that, a clearer picture emerges of the enforcement mechanism and the rising concerns of social media censorship and privacy violations for adults and youth.
“Meta has agreed to make massive transformations that will reduce the risk of harm from its platforms—and will do it within months," stated Rob Bonta, California's Democratic attorney general. Bonta—alongside Colorado's Phil Weiser, Kentucky's Russell Coleman and New Jersey's Jennifer Davenport—led litigation for a consortium of 47 states, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands and Washington, D.C.
Bonta continued, "Alongside a bipartisan coalition of my colleagues, I am proud to deliver this settlement that addresses the concerns at the core of our lawsuit and institutes real change, real transparency, and real enforceable protections for children on Facebook and Instagram—right now, no more waiting.”