Meta's $17 Billion Settlement with State Attorneys General

What happened

Meta settled a multistate enforcement action by 52 state attorneys general regarding age assurance and teen safety on its social media platforms. Rather than compensating individual consumers, the settlement requires Meta to implement age-gating technology, teen user account restrictions (including time limits, content filtering, and feature restrictions), and expanded data collection and monitoring over a ten-year period. Meta does not admit wrongdoing.

Do you qualify?

This is not a consumer class settlement with individual claim rights. It is a government enforcement settlement. All Meta users in the 52 settling states and territories will be subject to the settlement's requirements, which primarily affect users estimated to be under 18 through mandatory age assurance technology and teen account restrictions.

What the settlement pays

Over the ten-year settlement term, Meta will make annual payments to the 52 states and territories totaling over $11 billion. An additional $5 billion is available if Meta competitors adopt the same age assurance and teen protection measures.

Paid from a $17B settlement fund. Individual amounts depend on how many valid claims are filed.

How to file

This settlement does not create a direct consumer claim process. It is a government enforcement agreement between Meta and 52 state attorneys general. Individual users do not file claims. Instead, Meta must comply with the settlement's provisions regarding age assurance, teen user protections, and data practices, which are enforced by state attorneys general and an independent auditor over ten years.