Meta agreed to settle claims brought by 47 states and the District of Columbia. The company will impose a default two‑hour daily time limit on users under 18 for Facebook and Instagram and will pay up to $18 billion, pending court approval. The settlement includes provisions that require parental permission to override the time limit, a block on app usage between midnight and 6 a.m., and a school mode that mutes notifications from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Meta also will use age‑verification systems to identify users under 18, remove accounts of users under 13, and offer a non‑personalized feed option for minors. The company must respond to at least 90 percent of reports of harmful content within six hours and will be barred from making false or misleading statements about its safety features. The primary settlement allocates up to $16.7 billion to the participating states, territories and the District of Columbia. A provision reduces Meta’s total payment by $5 billion if TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat also settle state claims on comparable terms. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a separate $1 billion settlement with the state, while Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said the payout is inadequate and characterized the agreement as a “slap on the wrist for a trillion‑dollar corporation.” The advocacy group Public Citizen noted that the settlement spread over ten years represents a payment that is small compared to Meta’s overall revenues. The settlement follows a court ruling that denied Meta’s claim of immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, allowing a trial involving California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey to proceed. The attorneys general indicated they would present evidence that Meta misrepresented the safety of its platforms and designed them to encourage compulsive use for revenue. The agreement awaits a judge’s decision in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.