Meta settles with N.J., 46 other states to end trial over social media addiction, improve Facebook and Instagram safety

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Meta will pay $17.1 billion to 47 states, including New Jersey, and make major safety changes to Facebook and Instagram as part of an agreement to end a landmark social media addiction trial in Oakland, California, that began last week.

In a statement issued minutes after the deal was reached, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport described the agreement as “a historic step in protecting consumers and the largest state consumer protection settlement in history outside the Big Tobacco Settlements of the 1990s.”

Under the settlement, which is subject to court approval, New Jersey will receive at least $525 million, and Meta is required to implement what Davenport called a sweeping set of safety features designed to protect children and teenagers on its social media sites.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill called the settlement a major victory for New Jersey families.

“Big Tech is finally being held accountable for the harm it is causing, especially to our children’s mental health and safety,” she said in a statement. “More important, parents and teens will finally get some relief, including groundbreaking new safety features to protect kids online. But here in New Jersey, we won’t stop fighting until all of the Big Tech companies follow suit and finally stop the constant assault of addictive algorithms.”

The agreement resolves claims by New Jersey and 46 other states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands, that the company deliberately designed its platform with addictive features, knowingly exposed children to serious mental harms and intentionally misled the public about safety protocols.