Meta has agreed to pay up to US$17 billion over 10 years to settle claims brought by a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general. The states argued that the company deliberately designed Facebook and Instagram to hook children into using its apps, misled the public about the harm and improperly collected data from children under 13.
The settlement, announced by Meta on Aug. 26, 2026, ended a federal trial that had barely begun in Oakland, California. The potential financial exposure in the case was enormous, and Meta’s stock price took a hit. The states argued that penalties could reach hundreds of billions of dollars.
