Federal judge approves Meta settlement sending over $1 billion to Texas — and rewiring teens’ social media

A federal judge on Wednesday approved a landmark settlement requiring Meta to pay billions to states nationwide — including more than $1 billion to Texas — and to fundamentally change how teenagers use Instagram and Facebook.

Chief U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers entered the consent judgment in Oakland, California, finding the deal “fair, reasonable, and equitable” and ending a trial, barely a week old, over claims that Meta deliberately designed its platforms to addict children and misled the public about the harms. Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the Texas share the same day, with Texas joining the master settlement through its own parallel consent judgment.

The multistate group that tried the case will receive a minimum of $12.1 billion and up to $17.1 billion — described by New Jersey’s attorney general, a co-leader of the litigation, as the largest state consumer protection settlement in history outside the 1990s tobacco deals. Texas’s payment comes on top of that.

What changes for teens

The settlement’s injunctive terms, which run up to 10 years, are unusually specific:

• A two-hour daily limit, combined across Instagram and Facebook, with automatic pauses after 15, 60 and 90 minutes of continuous use — in effect for five years. If Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube adopt comparable terms, the limit tightens to 60 minutes per platform and extends to 10 years.
• A nighttime block from midnight to 6 a.m. by default, with push notifications silenced from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
• School mode: push notifications disabled by default from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays between Aug. 15 and June 15, adjustable by a parent.
• Stricter age verification, hidden like counts and restricted beauty filters, stronger safeguards against bullying and content promoting eating disorders and self-harm, and simpler parental controls.
• Independent audits of Meta’s implementation, reported to the states.

The fine print matters: time spent messaging, watching long-form video or in settings does not count against the daily limit, and teens need a parent’s approval to loosen the defaults — though they can tighten them on their own.

Where the money can go

The agreement spells out what states may spend settlement funds on, and much of the list points toward local communities: expanding the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, after-school and summer programs, youth mental health programming, hiring digital literacy counselors, phone-free school zones — and direct grants to school districts and other local government entities. Paxton’s office says Texas’s share will fund youth mental health services, crisis resources, digital literacy initiatives, after-school programs and grants to Texas schools; how those grants will be administered has not yet been announced.

“This is a historic settlement and a major win for the safety of Texas children,” Paxton said.

Meta admits no wrongdoing

The consent judgment states that Meta denies the allegations and any liability, and the deal cannot be used as an admission or precedent in other cases. Meta chief legal officer C.J. Mahoney called on TikTok and YouTube to adopt the same framework, arguing an industry-wide approach is needed because teens move across many apps. The company said it expects a legal expense of roughly $10 billion in the third quarter tied to the agreement.

The deal is the third settlement topping $1 billion Paxton has reached with a major technology company, following a $1.4 billion Meta settlement in 2024 over facial recognition data and a $1.375 billion Google privacy settlement. Paxton is scheduled to take TikTok to trial this fall in a separate child-safety case.