Will Big Tech Finally Reform Following $18 Billion Meta Settlement?

Last month, a bipartisan group of state attorneys general secured a landmark $18 billion settlement in a lawsuit against Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram) alleging that its platforms were intentionally designed to get minors addicted. While Meta still denies wrongdoing, the agreement is nonetheless a major victory for ensuring accountability from Big Tech companies – but it is only one battle in a much larger effort to protect young people.

Social media addiction is a quiet crisis plaguing the United States. The ubiquitous presence of platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok in daily American life has come with an alarming spike in depression, anxiety, and a host of mental health issues, particularly among teenagers.

A 2023 Surgeon General report found that up to 95 percent of Americans ages 13-17 use social media, while more than a third said they used it “almost constantly.” No one has documented the fallout of this trend better than Jonathan Haidt, author of the 2024 international bestseller The Anxious Generation. Haidt’s research showed a dramatic rise in depression, self-harm, and suicide among teenagers, particularly teenage girls, following the rapid proliferation of smartphones and social media in the early 2010s. (You can read an excerpt of Haidt’s book here.)

Other studies have documented the same trends. A 2025 study found that adolescents with highly addictive social media use had 2.39 times the risk of suicidal behaviors. A 2024 CDC study found that 42.6 percent of frequent teenage social media users reported persistent sadness or hopelessness. 45 percent of American teenagers say social media negatively affects their sleep. 34 percent of teenage girls say social media makes them feel worse about their own lives. And on and on.

But perhaps worst of all, some evidence suggests that Big Tech companies have long known about the addictive and potentially harmful nature of their products – and done nothing about it. In 2023, former Meta executive Arturo Béjar testified before Congress that he had personally warned Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other company leaders about Instagram’s dangers to teenagers, including internal research showing that 13 percent of users ages 13-15 had experienced unwanted sexual advances on the platform within the previous week. Béjar alleged that Meta’s leadership largely ignored his warnings and failed to implement adequate safeguards.

Then, in September 2025, two former Meta researchers revealed that the company allegedly suppressed internal research documenting sexual exploitation and other dangers facing children using its virtual-reality products. In one particularly disturbing instance, researchers said they were ordered to delete a recording and written evidence of a teenager reporting that his younger brother, who was under 10, had repeatedly been sexually propositioned through Meta’s VR platform. Meta has denied suppressing child-safety research.

These whistleblower reports in part led to the bipartisan lawsuit against Meta and the subsequent settlement. As Washington, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, who signed on to the lawsuit, put it in a press release, “Meta intentionally exploited kids for profit and then lied about it.” Schwalb called the settlement a “monumental public health victory,” but warned that the harms are “widespread across the tech industry.”

As part of the settlement, Meta is required to make changes that will give parents and guardians practical help in protecting kids from the dangers of social media.

Teen accounts will now have a two-hour daily limit by default, restrictions on overnight use, and no notifications during school hours. Meta also must improve age verification, hide “like” counts, and let parents switch off personalized feeds on their children’s accounts.

While this is a substantial victory for parents and families, it will mean much less if these reforms do not become the standard for all social media platforms. Case in point: the $18 billion topline figure from the settlement stretches over a decade, with some of the money contingent on competing platforms (TikTok, YouTube, and others) adopting similar policies. The states will receive the funds and decide individually how the money is used. Most have indicated that it will go toward youth online safety initiatives, education, and mental health services.

Still, for parents who have watched a child struggle with social media addiction, depression, or suicidal thoughts, the $18 billion figure and the settlement’s limited reform provisions can appear woefully inadequate.

Fairplay, a child advocacy group and persistent critic of social media companies, warned that the financial penalties for Meta were too small to change the company’s pursuit of young users. Yet it still called the agreement a “significant step” and praised the new safeguards because the settlement ushers in a new normal where more debate on needed social media reform is expected.

What lawmakers and parents alike should understand is that social media companies still have powerful financial incentives to get children hooked as early as possible. A habit formed in middle school can produce a lifetime of advertising revenue. Parents trying to limit social media use are pushing against a business model that rewards more of it.

Of course, social media companies should also recognize that allowing teenagers to have unmonitored, unrestricted access to their platforms would likely be a terrible long-term business strategy. As more parents become aware of the dangers of social media, they’re likely to remove access for their kids entirely.

There is nothing objectionable about a business wanting more customers. But children are still learning to exercise judgment, and social media companies have an ethical responsibility to give parents and teens the tools to use their products safely – even if it means less time on the apps.

Critics of the settlement argue that teens who want to bypass the safeguards likely will still be able to, and that the responsibility ultimately falls on parents, not social media companies, to ensure responsible use. Both of those points are fair, but they do not absolve social media companies of the responsibility to provide parents with the tools to better ensure teens can use their products safely. Requiring companies to disclose risks and supply working controls keeps parents better informed about what they’re allowing their children to access.

The federal government as well as state governments also have a role to play. If the restrictions are only on Facebook and Instagram, children will quickly move to using other social media platforms that are just as addictive. This is why wider reform and scrutiny need to be leveled against the whole industry.

The goal should be for more independent auditing and government oversight provisions to produce extra tools for parents. State and federal reforms should aim at verifying that age checks for underage accounts work, that the other restrictions hold, and that companies will quickly respond to a parent reporting a failure. Government regulators should also have the oversight powers to publish compliance findings and pursue violations when they occur.

President Donald Trump voiced support for parental choice in his administration’s June response to Britain’s online-safety consultation. In that situation, America advocated for tools for parents to manage children’s screen time, content exposure, and privacy.

Congress also has examples it can examine, including Australia, which began enforcing a minimum age of 16 for accounts on social media platforms last year.

There are also a number of bills already filed that could help jumpstart the nationwide conversation. Tennessee Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn’s bill, the Kids Online Safety Act, requires social media companies throughout the industry to address the addictive designs that put children at risk. Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee’s bill, App Store Accountability Act, would require app stores to verify users’ ages and obtain parental approval before a minor can download an app, giving parents a single, reliable gatekeeper tool from the start.

The social media industry has had years to act, and families should not have to wait for a separate lawsuit against every company. Protections that reach beyond Meta and preserve parents’ authority would give this settlement lasting value.

Congress has the bills filed, the addictive evidence in hand, and the public’s backing. What it needs now is the will to act, before another generation of children pays the price for its delay.