Meta reaches multistate deal with bipartisan attorneys general on teen protections, with $18 billion earmarked for youth online safety

Meta said it has reached an agreement with a bipartisan group of state attorneys general to set a new baseline for teen protections on its platforms, and it is urging other large social media companies, including TikTok and YouTube, to adopt similar rules. The deal, announced by Meta on Aug. 26, follows the company’s 2024 rollout of Teen Accounts, a set of automatic protections and added parental controls designed to give parents more ability to manage how their children use Meta’s services. Meta said teen safety and “a safe and productive experience” for teens is an “absolute imperative” for the company, particularly because teenagers use many apps rather than a single platform. Under the multistate agreement, Meta says that in participating U.S. states and territories, protections and controls would automatically apply to under-18s on Instagram and Facebook once the agreement receives judicial approval. Meta did not describe the timing of that approval, but it said the majority of the terms must remain in place for 10 years. A central component is how Meta’s “Time Limit” and “Night Mode” features would operate for teens by default. Meta said it will begin with a five-year commitment for these tools, with the possibility that the timetable and defaults would expand if other industry peers sign onto the framework. In that stronger version, Meta says the daily time cap would be reduced to one hour per app (down from an unspecified earlier default), and Night Mode hours would expand to 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., compared with a prior window of midnight to 6:00 a.m. The agreement also includes financial terms. Meta said the deal involves a payment of approximately $18 billion that can be used for youth online safety initiatives and other state priorities. Meta said the payment will be distributed in annual installments over 10 years. Participating states are expected to receive about 70% of the total over the decade, roughly $12.7 billion, while the remaining 30%, about $5.3 billion, would be released only after two specified conditions are met. Meta added that it expects to accrue about $10 billion in legal expense in the third quarter of 2026 related to the agreement. The company said this charge was not contemplated in the expense range it previously gave on its second-quarter earnings call, but that its guidance ranges from a July earnings release remain unchanged otherwise. Meta said the structure is intended to encourage industry-wide adoption because teens “move fluidly between dozens of apps a day.” The company said if other platforms like YouTube and TikTok adopt the same standard, certain provisions would be strengthened. In its remarks, Meta’s chief legal officer, C.J. Mahoney, framed the agreement as a path for parents to “easily manage” teen access to Meta platforms, but said the approach depends on broader adoption beyond Meta. The company said it will help establish an independent social media research foundation that would conduct work on teen well-being, using consented user data shared by Meta for research purposes. Meta also said an independent auditor would test and report to the states on Meta’s compliance with the agreement, reviewing compliance with the terms annually for five years. Participating attorneys general include officials from a bipartisan mix of states and territories, including California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Washington, as well as territories such as Puerto Rico and American Samoa, along with the District of Columbia and multiple other states listed by Meta. The company also acknowledged that it is still subject to forward-looking uncertainty, including the need for judicial approval. It did not provide additional detail on what the “two specific conditions” are for releasing the final portion of the payment, nor did it specify the exact compliance metrics that the independent auditor will use beyond annual reviews. The agreement’s real-world impact on teen behavior will also depend on how teens and parents use the platform controls, and on whether other major social media companies ultimately join the framework.

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