Meta has reached a settlement with 29 U.S. states, agreeing to pay 550 billion baht to end lawsuits accusing the company of designing platforms that addict children and harm their mental health.
On Wednesday, 26 Aug 2026 GMT+7, Meta, the world's leading social media provider, agreed to pay up to 16.68 billion U.S. dollars (about 548 billion baht) and to revise key features on Facebook and Instagram to settle lawsuits filed by various U.S. states.
This agreement ends lawsuits brought by 29 states across the U.S., alleging Meta designed platforms to addict children, misrepresented safety information, and improperly collected children's personal data, concluding one of the largest cases ever faced by a social media provider.
Under the settlement, Meta will impose daily usage limits and restrict nighttime use for children on Facebook and Instagram, as well as enhance measures to prevent children from accessing age-restricted content.
However, despite settling, Meta continues to deny any wrongdoing, including allegations of improper collection of children's personal data linked to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where millions of Facebook users' data was collected without consent.
As part of the settlement, the suing states will receive about 459.3 million U.S. dollars to resolve the lawsuits, while Meta's shares rose 2.3% in early trading on Wednesday.
Meta's latest legal troubles stem from lawsuits filed by state governments, local authorities, school districts, and individuals accusing Meta and other social media companies of fueling a nationwide youth mental health crisis, alleging violations of consumer protection laws in California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey.
The case also covers claims from 29 states that Meta violated the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting personal data from users known to be children without notifying or obtaining parental consent, and using that data to train AI models.
Meta has consistently argued that it has not misrepresented whether its services cause addiction, stating that “social media addiction” is not an officially recognized psychiatric condition.
Nonetheless, Meta, along with Snapchat and its parent company Snap, YouTube and its parent Alphabet, and TikTok with parent ByteDance, continue to face thousands of lawsuits in federal and state courts alleging these companies intentionally designed platform features that addict children and harm mental health.
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Source:cna