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Meta has agreed to pay up to $18 billion and rebuild how teenagers use Facebook and Instagram, settling claims brought by 47 US states, the District of Columbia and several territories that it designed its apps to be addictive to children. A judge approved the agreement on 27 August. Meta denied wrongdoing. Florida and New Mexico are not party to it.

The settlement landed during the second week of a federal bellwether trial in Oakland, which had been expected to hear testimony from Mark Zuckerberg and to examine the company's internal research. Attorneys general have described it as the largest state consumer protection settlement in American history outside the tobacco agreements of the 1990s.

Users under 18 will face a default two-hour daily limit across Facebook and Instagram combined, liftable only with verified parental permission. The apps will be blocked between midnight and 6am, with an exception for direct messages. Prompts and pauses will interrupt continuous use at 15, 60 and 90 minutes. Likes and reactions will be hidden on teen accounts. Cosmetic-procedure and extreme-makeup filters are banned by default. A School Mode will restrict notifications during class hours. Meta must respond to 90 per cent of teen safety alerts within six hours, and an independent auditor chosen jointly with the states will review compliance.