Illinois, Missouri to receive combined $918 million in landmark Meta settlement
Published 3:18 pm Thursday, August 27, 2026
CHICAGO — Attorneys general in Illinois and Missouri announced this week that their states will receive a combined total of up to $918 million as part of a $17.1 billion multistate settlement with Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, over allegations that the company designed its platforms to be addictive and harmful to children.
The settlement, one of the largest state consumer protection agreements in U.S. history, resolves claims brought by attorneys general in 49 states and territories, including Illinois and Missouri, along with Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands. The states alleged Meta knowingly exposed young users to serious mental health harms, misled the public about the safety of its platforms, and, in some cases, illegally collected personal information from children under 13 without parental consent, in violation of federal law.
Under the agreement, which is subject to court approval, Missouri will receive between $100 million and $150 million, according to Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway. Illinois will receive up to nearly $768 million, according to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
“Missouri is unwavering in its commitment to ensure major tech platforms take responsibility for the safety of America’s children,” Hanaway said. “As a mother, I know how critical it is to shield kids from predators, addictive material, and content that harms their mental health.”
Raoul described the settlement as a turning point for an industry he said has long prioritized profit over children’s well-being.
“This is a monumental victory for online safety that will affect an entire generation of young people,” Raoul said. “After decades of putting profits before the health and wellness of children, this landmark settlement requires Meta to put our children’s safety and mental health at the forefront.”
Beyond the financial payment, Meta has agreed to a broad set of safety changes on Instagram and Facebook. Children will face a combined two-hour daily time limit across both platforms, with mandatory “productive pause” prompts appearing after 15 minutes of continuous use and again at 60 and 90 minutes. Those limits will remain in place for five years and could drop to 60 minutes per platform for a decade if Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube adopt similar restrictions. The company will also implement nighttime restrictions blocking children’s access to content feeds and notifications from midnight to 6 a.m., and will suspend push notifications on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the school year.
Meta has additionally agreed to strengthen its age-verification tools to more accurately identify young users, expand content controls aimed at reducing exposure to bullying, eating disorder content, and material related to suicide and self-harm, and build more robust, user-friendly parental controls. The company will also limit features linked to poor mental health outcomes in children, including visible “like” counts and beauty filters that alter skin tone or mimic cosmetic surgery. An independent auditor will monitor Meta’s implementation and the effectiveness of the changes going forward, according to both attorneys general.
The case stemmed from a bipartisan, multi-year investigation launched by attorneys general nationwide beginning in 2021, which led to lawsuits against Meta starting in October 2023. The settlement also resolves separate claims related to Meta’s sharing of Facebook users’ nonpublic data with third parties, including Cambridge Analytica, ahead of the 2016 election.
Both attorneys general said they intend to continue pursuing similar accountability measures against other social media and technology companies. Raoul noted his office has also taken action against TikTok and joined other states in raising concerns about AI chatbot safety for children.