The Huge Meta Settlement: What it Means for Washington Families

In one of the largest state consumer protection settlements in history, Meta Platforms, Inc. has agreed to pay up to $17 billion to settle allegations that it violated the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and state consumer protection laws, and implement multiple child-safety reforms on Facebook and Instagram. Sounds like a huge victory for safety advocates, but what does this settlement really mean to families right now?

The answer is: Not much – yet. Nothing changes immediately on your child’s Instagram or Facebook account. But if the court approves the agreement, families could begin to see the first of the required changes within four months, with more significant restrictions following.

The Meta settlement in a nutshell

The settlement resolves claims that Meta deliberately designed Facebook and Instagram to be addictive, knowingly exposed children to serious mental-health harms on their platforms, illegally collected children’s user data, and intentionally misled the public about the safety of its platforms. Meta denies wrongdoing. In exchange for ending the litigation, Meta has agreed to billions in payments and new protections for teen users.

What the Meta settlement means to families

Families won’t see most of the agreed-to changes to Instagram or Facebook for months after the settlement is approved. Here are some of the changes Meta has agreed to for the accounts of young users, defined as children age 13 through 17 (children younger than 13 aren’t permitted on either platform).

Within four months of settlement approval, teen users will:

• Receive a notification after 15 minutes of continuous usage, plus what the settlement refers to as “productive pauses” at 60 minutes and 90 minutes of cumulative daily use.
• Have the option to select a non-personalized feed — posts from accounts your teen actually follows, in chronological order — as their default home feed. 

Within six months of settlement approval the following changes will be made to teen accounts:

• A default two-hour daily limit covering Instagram and Facebook combined. The clock resets at midnight and doesn’t count messaging, settings and long-form content (22 minutes or longer). A supervising parent can approve a higher limit.
• A nighttime block from midnight to 6 a.m., during which teens won’t be able to access most features on Facebook and Instagram. Messaging will remain available, and a supervising parent can loosen this restriction. Separately, push notifications will be shut off from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
• Push notifications will be disabled during school hours (8 a.m.–3 p.m. weekdays from Aug. 15–June 15); this can also be adjusted by a supervising parent.
• “Like” counts and other social comparison features will be hidden. A supervising parent can approve turning these back on.
• “Cosmetic procedure” filters will be disabled. These cannot be overridden by a supervising parent.

A “supervising parent” is an adult who is formally linked through Meta’s parental supervision controls, so if you haven’t yet set that up, now is a good time. 

Within one year, Meta must adopt an age-assurance framework and build a prototype system for identifying users younger than 13. Actually applying that system to Instagram and Facebook accounts isn’t required until the two-year mark. You can read the full list of features and required timing, post-approval, in the settlement agreement. 

What the Meta settlement means to Washington state

Washington is guaranteed at least $237 million of the settlement funds, some of which the attorney general’s office says will support programs addressing the mental health impacts of social media on children. The state could ultimately receive nearly $339 million over the next 10 years, but that is contingent on whether Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube reach comparable agreements with the states.

“Let me say to the young people of Washington state: This agreement shows that your health and safety is more important than Meta’s profits,” says Washington Attorney General Nick Brown. 

Just the beginning

While many are hailing this settlement as a huge victory, it’s important to know it’s just the first step in reforming social media apps that have been shown to harm children. “This settlement marks the beginning, not the end, of long-sought-after changes for social media companies,” says Emily Cherkin, a child-safety advocate known as “The Screentime Consultant.*”

Meta’s legal problems aren’t over, either. This settlement resolves the claims brought by state attorneys general, but the company still faces lawsuits from individuals, school districts and other government entities alleging that Facebook and Instagram harm young users. 

The agreement lets Meta loosen its own terms if a state later gives Snapchat, TikTok or YouTube an easier deal, which is another reason this settlement is unlikely to be the last one.

“It’s important to note that Meta has had the power to make these changes all along; it was a deliberate choice not to,” says Cherkin, who notes that these changes will mean nothing without effective and independent oversight. “Pressure from parents, activists and lawmakers must continue.”

Editor’s note: Emily Cherkin is a frequent ParentMap contributor and a speaker in our upcoming ParentMap Talks webinar series.