Meta has reached a settlement with US states in an $18B lawsuit accusing the social media giant of deliberately making Instagram addictive to teenagers. The money will fund youth safety initiatives, and the company has agreed to introduce unprecedented protections against overuse of its social media apps by teens.

US states have long pushed for stronger protections against harmful algorithmic feeds, arguing that companies like Meta seek to get teens addicted to overuse. Harmful effects include cyberbullying, pressure to achieve unrealistic body images, and loss of sleep leading to reduced grades at school. Actions by a growing number of individual states eventually led to a coordinated lawsuit against Meta by attorneys general representing a total of 52 US states, territories, and the District of Columbia.

Meta has now agreed to settle the suit and introduce far stronger protections. The new teen protective measures listed will automatically apply to under-18s on both Instagram and Facebook. These include a default two-hour daily time limit that teens can only turn off with a parent’s permission, a default block from apps between midnight and 6am, and notifications muted by default between 8 AM and 3 PM for School Mode. Teens will also receive prompts after every 15 minutes of continuous screen time.

Additional measures allow teens to choose a non-algorithmic feed, turn off autoplay, and hide like counts by default. The company will also block teens from using extreme makeup filters and invest in stronger technology to proactively catch underage accounts. App stores must provide verified age information to ensure platforms can put age-appropriate protections in place for as many teens as possible.