Key Points

• On August 26, 2026, Meta agreed to a proposed settlement with a bipartisan coalition of 51 state and territory attorneys general, including payments of up to $17 billion over ten years and sweeping safety changes to Instagram and Facebook. 
• The settlement money goes to state governments, not to families. Parents and young adults harmed by social media or other online platforms still have to file their own lawsuits, and thousands already have. 
• Hissey, Mulderig & Friend is currently investigating and accepting cases involving social media addiction, mental health harm, exploitation, and other injuries tied to online platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and Roblox. 

Why It Matters

A headline about an $18 billion settlement sounds like relief is on the way for families. But attorneys general involved in this litigation resolved claims brought by the government, and the money is earmarked for state programs, not for the children or families who were harmed. If social media damaged your child’s mental health, or if your child was exploited on an online platform, that claim is a separate case that exists only if you contact a lawyer and take legal action.

Meta Settled With the States, Not With Families

Meta Platforms recently agreed to a proposed settlement with 51 state and territorial attorneys general, ending a trial that had been underway for just over a week in California federal court. The states alleged that Meta designed Instagram and Facebook to drive compulsive use by children and teens, and then misled parents and the public about how dangerous those design choices were. 

However, this historic settlement does not include compensation for the families whose children were harmed. If your child developed depression, anxiety, an eating disorder, or another serious mental health condition connected to social media or other online platforms use, the only way to recover compensation is to file an individual social media lawsuit against these platforms. 

Our law firm, Hissey, Mulderig & Friend, is currently accepting claims involving social media and online gaming platforms. Find out whether you qualify or start your claim today by calling our office toll-free at 1-866-806-8117, or send us a message using the free claims submission form located on the right side of this page. 

What Did Meta Agree to Pay?

The proposed settlement calls for a monetary payment of up to $17 billion to the states, paid out over ten years. California alone stands to receive between $1.5 billion and $2.1 billion. Under the terms announced by the coalition, that money is earmarked for preventing and remediating the mental health and other harms to young people associated with social media use. 

The agreement is not final. It remains subject to court approval through entry of what is called a consent judgment, meaning a federal judge has to sign off before the terms take effect. 

What Safety Changes Is Meta Required to Make?

The injunctive terms may matter more than the money. For users under 18, the settlement requires a default daily time limit of two hours that only a parent can lift, and a default nighttime block from midnight to 6 a.m. that also requires a parent to remove. If other platforms agree to comparable terms, the daily limit drops to one hour and the nighttime block widens to 10 p.m. through 7 a.m. 

The settlement also requires Meta to block notifications to minors overnight and during the school day, to stop displaying like and reaction counts to users under 18, to ban cosmetic procedure filters for minors, and to offer teens a feed that is not driven by an engagement algorithm. Meta must build stronger age assurance tools to identify users under 18 and remove children under 13, respond to 90 percent of teen safety reports within six hours, and submit to oversight by an independent auditor. 

Does the Settlement Pay Anything to Injured Families?

The $18 billion settlement with Meta does not include compensation for families of children or teens who were harmed by the company’s social media platforms. 

State attorneys general sue on behalf of the public, and any money they recover belongs to the state treasury and the programs the legislature funds with it. No portion of the $18 billion is set aside for families whose children were harmed by social media addiction, mental health problems, or other injuries tied to Facebook or Instagram. 

Those losses are addressed through individual lawsuits, which are moving forward separately. Social media lawsuits that were filed in federal court have been consolidated in a multidistrict litigation (MDL) in the Northern District of California. As of August 2026, there are more than 3,000 lawsuits pending in this litigation. Thousands of additional lawsuits are currently pending in California state court. 

An MDL is not a class action. Each family keeps its own claim, and each claim is evaluated on its own merits. Nothing about the state settlement affects you or your family’s right to file an individual lawsuit. 

Who May Qualify to File a Social Media Lawsuit?

You or your child may be eligible to file a lawsuit and receive compensation if a minor or young adult used Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, or a similar platform and experienced serious harm connected to that use.  

The claims being brought nationwide generally fall into four groups: 

1. Addiction and teen mental health harm, including diagnosed depression, anxiety, eating disorders, sleep disruption, and self-harm. 

2. Wrongful death, including families who lost a child to suicide or to a substance purchased through a social media contact. 

3. Child sexual exploitation, grooming, and sextortion that began on a platform. 

4. Privacy claims involving the collection and use of a minor’s personal data without lawful parental consent. 

If you or your family believe your child was affected by harm resulting from social media use, please contact our law firm for a free legal consultation to find out if you qualify. 

Are Claims Being Filed Against Roblox and Other Platforms?

Meta is not the only company facing these lawsuits. Federal claims alleging that Roblox failed to protect children from predators are consolidated in a separate MDL, also in the Northern District of California. As of August 2026, there are nearly 200 claims pending in this litigation.  

These lawsuits against Roblox allege that the platform was marketed to young children without basic safeguards, failing to verify ages or identities and allowing adults to pose as minors and contact them directly through chat. Families allege that predators used that access to groom children, then moved the conversation to outside messaging apps where the abuse escalated. 

Several state attorneys general have separately sued or settled with the platform, though those government settlements, like Meta’s, pay nothing to individual victims. 

Contact a Lawyer to Find Out If You Qualify

If you or a loved one suffered serious harm connected to social media or an online gaming platform, you may qualify to file a lawsuit and receive compensation.  

Our law firm, Hissey Mulderig & Friend, is currently investigating and accepting claims involving social media addiction, or other harmful outcomes linked to social media and online gaming platforms. There is no cost to speak with an attorney to find out if you qualify, and no legal fees unless we recover compensation on your behalf. 

Find out if you qualify to file a social media lawsuit or start the process of filing your claim today by contacting the lawyers at Hissey Mulderig & Friend toll-free at 1-866-806-8117, or by sending us a message using the free contact form located at the top of this page.