As part of a sweeping multistate agreement, Meta Platforms, Inc. — the parent company of Facebook and Instagram — has agreed to pay more than $17 billion and adopt extensive child-safety changes to its operations.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser on Wednesday called the deal a landmark consumer-protection settlement. Colorado will receive $615 million over nine years.

The Attorney General’s Office said the money will be used to protect and improve children’s mental health and safety.

“The relief we are getting in this settlement is very meaningful and well beyond what any court has ordered or is likely to order,” Weiser said in a statement. “The focus of this case was to protect our kids — stopping notifications and alerts at night and when they are in school, encouraging them to take breaks from social media, protecting them against harmful features, implementing age-assurance technology and more.”

Weiser added: “Today’s action is an important step forward and I welcome Meta’s decision to accept responsibility and to collaborate with the multistate coalition to protect kids who deserve better.”

The agreement, which still requires court approval, resolves claims brought by 47 states, American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands. Those claims alleged that Meta designed Instagram with addictive features, exposed young users to serious mental health harms and misled the public about the safety of its platforms.

In addition to the monetary settlement, Meta agreed to adopt a series of safety measures on Instagram and Facebook, including the following:

• Daily time limits requiring a combined two-hour cap for children on both platforms, with mandatory “Productive Pauses” after 15 minutes of continuous use and again at 60 and 90 minutes. The limits will remain in place for five years.
• Nighttime access blocks restricting use from midnight to 6 a.m.
• School‑time restrictions that eliminate push notifications on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Stronger age‑assurance tools to more effectively verify users’ ages.
• Age-appropriate content controls with enhanced protections against bullying, eating‑disorder content and material related to suicide or self-harm.
• Improved parental controls.
• Limits on social-comparison features, including beauty filters and visible “like” counts.
• Regular assessments of the reforms by an independent auditor and the participating states.

Polis: Meta settlement doesn’t replace parental oversight

In a statement, Gov. Jared Polis said he appreciates all the states that pushed major tech companies to stop practices that harm kids’ mental health. He said the funding will meaningfully support youth mental‑health efforts.

But he warned that the settlement doesn’t replace parental oversight.

Polis urged parents to take whatever steps make sense for their families to ensure social media is used in healthy, constructive ways, or whether their children should use it at all.

The Colorado Attorney General’s Office said the settlement is a significant step but noted that broader problems extend beyond Meta’s platforms. Officials said they hope other companies, including TikTok and Snapchat, will adopt similar protections.

Attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the 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.