Meta reached a $18 billion settlement with 29 U.S. states on Wednesday to resolve a lawsuit over child safety, agreeing to adopt sweeping changes to how minors use Instagram and Facebook.

The settlement, which resolves allegations that the platforms were designed to keep children engaged, includes terms that set default screen‑time limits and other usage controls for under‑age accounts.

The agreement proposes a default two‑hour daily screen‑time limit, prompts every 15 minutes encouraging intentional use, overnight blocking of accounts identified as belonging to minors, and muted notifications during school hours. It also makes like counts invisible for teen users and requires age verification for all accounts.

The changes depend on age‑verification methods that have not been fully proven. Current approaches include biometric scans, government ID verification, and behavioral analysis, each of which has accuracy and privacy limitations.

Jessica Nall, a technology litigator at Withers, said the settlement’s financial impact is softened by the ten‑year payment schedule, noting Meta’s 2025 revenue exceeded $200 billion. Dr. Alexis Ingber, a communications professor at Syracuse University, said effective age verification is required to support the design changes, while Philip Yannella, co‑chair of the privacy and data security group at Blank Rome, said age can be verified using tokens that discard personal information.

Experts cautioned that transmitting sensitive identity data for verification could create privacy risks, including the potential for identity theft from leaked biometric or ID information.

Meta described the settlement as a demonstration of its commitment to children’s online safety and called on TikTok and YouTube to adopt similar design changes, although the compliance of those platforms is part of the agreement and accounts for roughly 30 % of the payment.

The settlement obligates Meta to implement the design standards for ten years, but the reliability of age‑verification technology remains an open question.