Press Release  AG Campbell Reaches Landmark Settlement With Meta That Requires Design Changes To Protect Massachusetts Young People From Social Media Harms

Boston — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell today joined a bipartisan multistate coalition in announcing a landmark $17.1 billion settlement with Meta resolving allegations that the company designed and operated its social media platforms in ways that harmed young people and violated state consumer protection laws. This marks the largest state consumer protection settlement in history outside the Big Tobacco settlements of the 1990s. 

“As a mom and as Attorney General, I know that young people deserve to grow up in a world where they can benefit from technology without being exploited by it. We took on Meta because the company chose to put profits ahead of the wellbeing of young people,” said AG Campbell. “This settlement is about more than a financial penalty – it’s about changing the way Big Tech does business. We secured meaningful, long-term changes to Meta’s products and practices, while delivering real resources to Massachusetts. Today is an important step forward, but for our kids and their futures, it’s only the first step.” 

Today’s settlement, which is subject to the court’s approval, is the culmination of years of work by Massachusetts to investigate and hold Meta accountable for the harms its Instagram platforms caused young people. In 2021, the Attorney General’s Office co-led a bipartisan, nationwide investigation into Instagram’s impact on young people. In 2023, AG Campbell filed a lawsuit against Meta and Instagram alleging that the company violated state consumer protection law and caused a public nuisance by purposefully designing its Instagram app to addict young users. The lawsuit alleged that Meta knew its practices could harm young people but chose to prioritize growth and revenue instead of implementing changes that could reduce those harms. 

In April 2026, Massachusetts secured a significant legal victory in its litigation when the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a federal law that gives online platforms some protections from liability for content posted by their users, does not automatically shield social media companies from claims based on how they design and operate their own products. The first-of-its kind ruling allowed Massachusetts’ case against Meta to proceed and helped paved the way for today’s agreement.  

As a result of today’s settlement, the Commonwealth and Meta will jointly seek the court’s approval of the settlement in the coming days to bring the state’s ongoing litigation against Meta to an end. 

Holding Meta Accountable 

If approved by the court, the settlement requires Meta to do the following. Over the course of one year, Meta must implement an enhanced age assurance framework designed to identify users under 13 and users ages 13 to 18 with a high level of accuracy. The framework will not require users to submit government identification or other sensitive information to verify their age. 

Users under 13 will not be permitted to use Instagram or Facebook, while teen users, ages 13 to 18, will receive account protections over the next 4 – 6 months, including:  

Default Usage Limits 

• A daily time limit of 120 minutes across Instagram and Facebook, helping limit the amount of time teens can spend on Meta’s platforms.  
• Overnight access restrictions, blocking teen user access from 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m., and blocking notifications from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.   
• Silenced notifications during school hours (8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.), reducing interruptions and distractions for teen users.  

Platform Design Changes for Teen Users 

• Prompts that present clear options to turn off “autoplay” and personalized algorithmic feed features, which deliver content based on a prediction of what will keep the user on the platform. 
• Prominent pauses and breaks at 15 minutes of continuous use and at 60 minutes and 90 minutes of cumulative use that escalate in length and prominence to reduce excessive, mindless, or unintended use. 
• Disabling like counts and quantification of other social reactions on teen users’ own posts, reducing negative social comparison and engagement-driven features. 
• Disabling filters that mimic cosmetic surgery, limiting exposure to unrealistic and potentially harmful beauty standards. 

Content and Account Protections 

Meta will implement the following protections for teen users: 

• Default teen users into private accounts. 
• Stronger protections against unwanted contact from adults, restricting adults whom teens have not affirmatively connected with from messaging teens or viewing their accounts. 
• Restrict adults, whom a teen does not affirmatively connect to, from messaging them or seeing their accounts. 

Delivering for Massachusetts 

The agreement requires Meta to make concrete changes designed to better protect young people and provides Massachusetts with up to $516 million, including approximately $366 million guaranteed to be paid over the next ten years. The $366 million includes money Meta will pay Massachusetts to resolve claims stemming from Facebook’s failure to protect consumer’s private information from misuse by Cambridge Analytica, and Facebook’s alleged subsequent misrepresentations to consumers.  

The funds will go towards efforts to remediate the harms caused by social media to Massachusetts young people, including expanding youth crisis intervention and mental health services; supporting after-school, summer, and outdoor programs; advancing digital wellness and literacy; supporting phone-free school initiatives; and training medical providers on interactive media use and body dysmorphia. A portion of the funds to Massachusetts will also be directed towards the General Fund. 

Continuing the Work 

Today’s settlement builds on AG Campbell’s longstanding efforts to protect children and teenagers from technology-related harms. In addition to Meta, AG Campbell is holding major technology company TikTok accountable through a pending lawsuit alleging that the company designed its platform to addict young users and exploit their vulnerabilities. AG Campbell also partnered with Senator Julian Cyr, Representative Alice Hanlon Peisch, and Representative Kate Lipper-Garabedian to introduce the STUDY Act, legislation that would strengthen protections for youth online and establish bell-to-bell, phone-free schools.  Legislation stemming from this bill is under active consideration by a legislative conference committee. 

AG Campbell has also developed a toolkit to help parents understand and address the risks young people face online. In addition, AG Campbell launched a $500,000 Phone-Free Schools Support Grant to help schools implement bell-to-bell policies and support student wellbeing.  

In Massachusetts, this matter was handled by Deputy Attorney General Sara Cable, of the AG’s Executive Bureau; Senior Trial Counsels Christina Chan, Doug Martland and Matt Berge, of the AG’s Public Protection and Advocacy Bureau; Division Chief Jared Rinehimer, Senior Trial Counsel Meena Seralathan, Assistant Attorneys General Kaitlyn Karpenko, Camy Ruck, Young Jun Choi, and Emily Swanson, Technologist and Data Scientist Ekin Koker and Paralegal Payton Doan, of the AG’s Privacy and Responsible Technology Division; Senior Trial Counsels Megan Barriger and Peter Downing, of the AG’s Consumer Protection Division; Assistant Attorney General Adam Cambier of the AG’s Civil Rights Division; Assistant Attorney General Jessica Rahmoune of the AG’s Fair Labor Division; Assistant Attorney General Arjun Jaikumar of the AG’s Constitutional and Administrative Law Division; Director Liza Hirsch and Assistant Attorney General Cassandra Thomson, of the AG’s Children’s Justice Unit; Senior Investigators Ed Cherubin and Anthony Crespi, of the AG’s Civil Investigation Division; Assistant Attorneys General Kimberly Hudson-Wright and Georganne Joseph of the AG’s eDiscovery Unit; and State Solicitor David Kravitz. 

The attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming joined the settlement.  

Statements of Support: 

Governor Maura Healey: “Social media platforms don’t get to put profits ahead of our kids. When I was Attorney General, we led a nationwide investigation into Meta for its harmful impacts on young people and their mental health. Attorney General Campbell took that work forward and delivered this historic settlement that provides real protections for kids and hundreds of millions of dollars for Massachusetts. I’m grateful for her leadership, and we will continue our efforts as a state to protect young people's mental health and hold social media platforms accountable.” 

Senate President Karen E. Spilka: "Today's settlement is a victory for Massachusetts families and all of us who have been sounding the alarm about social media’s impact on our children’s emotional wellbeing and mental health. It reinforces my pride in having Attorney General Campbell as our state's lead law enforcement officer, fighting big tech in the courtroom on Massachusetts' behalf. While social media is likely an aspect of our lives that is here to stay, we can and should push back against the features that increase the likelihood of addiction, promote harm, and collect data on our kids. In the Senate, we have fought to make sure every digital media company, not just Meta, takes steps to protect our kids. To that end, we will build on AG Campbell’s victory and keep working to finalize a comprehensive youth social media protections bill so we can expand upon and implement these protections across the board."

Senator Julian Cyr: “This historic settlement sends a clear message that social media companies cannot profit from addictive products at the expense of young people’s mental health and well-being. The $17 billion settlement—including $366 million for Massachusetts—will make critical investments in mental health and education while requiring Meta to make meaningful changes to protect young users from addictive and harmful features. I’m grateful to Attorney General Campbell for holding one of the world’s most powerful corporations accountable and putting the well-being of our kids ahead of corporate profits."

Representative Alice Peisch: “This settlement is an important step toward holding social media platforms accountable for the impact their products have had on young children and teens. I commend Attorney General Campbell and her team for taking on this challenge to help ensure the well-being and safety of our young people. It advances many of the same principles reflected in the House bill, an act to promote student learning and mental health: stronger age protections, limits on the features that can drive excessive and addictive use, and greater safeguards for young people online. Importantly, these measures include age assurance without requiring users to share government identification, prohibit children under 13 from using Facebook or Instagram, establish time limits and scheduled restrictions on overnight access, and require changes to platform design to reduce addictive features. Teen accounts will be private, with enhanced protections designed to help prevent exploitation and contact from predators. The commitment to maintain these protections for five years is significant but we will continue pursuing durable, enforceable standards legislatively that put the health, safety, and privacy of the Commonwealth’s children ahead of profit. I look forward to continuing this work with my colleagues in the legislature and the Attorney General to codify clear expectations for platforms and ensure that technology companies take responsibility for creating safer digital environments for young people."

Representative Kate Lipper-Garabedian: “This settlement marks an important step in the Commonwealth’s ongoing responsibility to lead on consumer protection, particularly for our most vulnerable, including our children, and I applaud the Office of the Attorney General for its leadership in holding Meta accountable. The recent influx of big tech’s ads assuring parents like me that our kids are safe on their platforms – platforms that are decades old, older than the kids themselves – is too little, too late. Social media has contributed to the youth mental health crisis, and I am pleased that Massachusetts will receive financial resources from Meta to enhance supports for our younger residents and that Instagram and Facebook will be required to remove addictive features from youth accounts."

Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein, MD, PhD: “This settlement is a critically important step to address some of the negative consequences of youth use of social media. While social media can be a place for community and connection, so often we are seeing young people experience harmful behavioral and mental health outcomes stemming from their social media use. This settlement is an important platform for creating meaningful guardrails for youth social media use and will result in significant investments in programming aimed at improving behavioral and mental health outcomes for young people. Here in Massachusetts, we are, sadly, seeing persistently high rates of youth anxiety and depression, partly driven by social media and the algorithms they use. Settlement funding will allow Massachusetts to build on ongoing collaborative efforts on prevention programming that aims to increase youth wellness, including cyberbullying, suicide, and anti-hate speech.”

Alexandra Oliver-Dávila, Executive Director of Sociedad Latina: “Sociedad Latina is honored to stand in partnership with the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office to hold these Big Tech companies accountable for their impact on the mental health of our young people. Our Youth Leaders have long called out how social media addiction is reshaping their childhoods and contributing to a stark decline in their mental health and well-being. The new protections in this settlement are necessary for the safety of our young people. We hope to see these funds directed toward education and prevention programs that better safeguard youth against the dangers of social media addiction, because they deserve better." 

Mary M. Bourque, Ed.D., Executive Director, Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents (M.A.S.S.): “This settlement represents a major step forward in addressing the profoundly negative impact of social media on our children and adolescents. Educators here in Massachusetts and across the country see first-hand the harm these platforms can do to our young people. We are very encouraged that the lawsuit will result in new safeguards to protect our students and that the funds from the settlement will be reinvested in education and mental health." 

Josh Golin, Fairplay Executive Director: “This is a watershed moment for the growing movement to protect children from addictive and dangerously designed social media. The state attorneys general, including Massachusetts AG Andrea Joy Campbell, have secured the most significant injunctive relief yet from Meta, including a number of measures to protect young people’s sleep, such as disabling Instagram overnight for minors’ accounts. The settlement also requires disabling addictive and harmful features like displays of like counts and plastic surgery filters. We also greatly appreciate that Meta will be required to identify both under-13 and under-18 users without infringing on the privacy of adults. We thank AG Campbell and her fellow state attorneys general for their historic leadership in fighting for our children’s safety and well-being online."

Adrienne Principe, Founder of Turning Life On Keep Tech in Check: “Meta’s settlement with the MA Attorney General is a huge win for parents and kids across MA and the US! Social media is addictive and harmful to young people, and Meta misrepresented this fact, prioritizing profits over child safety with devastating consequences. Social media platforms are not safe for children under 13, and strict limits and disabled addictive design features are a step in the right direction. But this is not the end. Now is the time to pass additional legislation, like phone-free schools and EdTech standards, that protect kids. We must also hold other social media companies, like YouTube, TikTok and SnapChat, accountable and to the same standards. Limits and restrictions are only one piece of the puzzle. Educating students, and supporting and empowering parents so they can adequately protect their kids online is equally as important."

Deb Mann Schmill, Founder of Becca Schmill Foundation and Distraction-Free Schools Policy Project: "As a survivor parent, I know firsthand the devastating consequences when children are exposed to social media designed to capture their attention, exploit their vulnerabilities, and put them in harm’s way. I see today’s settlement as a historic moment in the growing movement to protect children from these dangerously designed products. Beyond a significant financial penalty, the state attorneys general secured the most significant injunctive relief yet from Meta—including protections for young people’s sleep, restrictions on harmful features like public like counts and plastic-surgery filters, and new guardrails against predatory adults. I am deeply grateful to the Massachusetts Attorney General and her staff for their historic leadership and for standing up for our children’s safety and well-being online." 

Jill Walsh, Founder of Digital Aged: "This settlement will have profound, positive impacts on the well-being of Massachusetts children and teens. What makes it especially promising is its dual approach — pairing platform restrictions with meaningful investment in social media education for young people."

Jessica Collins, Executive Director of Public Health Institute of Western MA: "Our Youth Mental Health Roadmap called out Social Media as a key risk factor for youth mental health. This settlement is an important step toward strengthening protections for young people on social media and in supporting parents and caregivers as they help their children navigate this online world. It also highlights the need to assess potential health impacts and embed proactive safeguards into emerging products and technologies before there is harm. Congrats to our Attorney General’s office for its leadership and commitment to protecting the wellbeing of our youth."

Kyra Brissette, CEO, Media Literacy Now: "Young people have been clear about what they need: the skills to navigate the digital world with confidence. This settlement's investment in digital wellness and media literacy responds directly to that call. Safer product design and strong media literacy education go hand in hand — neither is sufficient alone. Massachusetts now has a real opportunity to make media literacy a permanent part of every student's education, and we're eager to help."

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