California and dozens of other states won sweeping new restrictions on how Facebook and Instagram treat children Wednesday, including daily time limits, overnight lockouts and stronger parental controls, along with as much as $17 billion from Meta.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers approved the agreement in Oakland, abruptly ending a closely watched trial over allegations that Meta deliberately hooked children on its platforms and concealed the resulting harm.
“This is transformative,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said Wednesday. “This is a major step forward in the ongoing quest and journey to make sure that our children are safe everywhere, including online.”
Meta denied the lawsuit’s allegations and admitted no wrongdoing. In a statement Wednesday, the company called on its rivals to adopt similar protections, saying, “We cannot do it alone.”
Meta will pay $12 billion over 10 years, with that amount rising to $17 billion if other major social media companies agree to similar protections. California would receive $1.5 billion to $2.2 billion to address harms to children from social media, Bonta said.
Bonta called the payment “secondary” to the changes Meta agreed to make, which he described as “the heart and core of this settlement.”
The deal covers 52 jurisdictions, including states, territories and the District of Columbia. Some joined the agreement despite not participating in the lawsuit that went to trial in Oakland.
Under the agreement, children under 18 will face a combined two-hour daily limit on Facebook and Instagram, along with an overnight blackout from midnight to 6 a.m. Parents could lift either restriction. If other social media platforms agree to similar changes, the daily limit would drop to one hour and the overnight block would expand from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Messaging is exempt from the restrictions, and time spent watching long-form videos would not count against the daily limit.
Despite Bonta’s assertion Wednesday that the states made no compromises, the agreement drops a key demand that children be barred from using Facebook and Instagram at school. They may continue using the platforms during school hours, but Meta cannot send notifications then except for messages or account and platform issues.