Before it began, it had been portrayed as one of the biggest trials in American history, compared to the Big Tobacco case of the 1990s. Experts had estimated that it would last six to eight weeks, while the fine that could be imposed on the defendant could have reached—as some, at least, extreme predictions suggested—as much as $1.4 trillion.

In the end, Meta’s trial ended early. Within seven days, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram reached an $18 billion settlement with the 29 U.S. states that had sued it, while also agreeing to make certain changes to the way its popular platforms operate in order to protect underage users.

Specifically, the agreement, announced Wednesday, provides for new restrictions on teenagers’ use of the apps, the most significant being the introduction of a two-hour daily limit across Facebook and Instagram combined.

The limit will be automatically activated on the accounts of users whom the company knows to be teenagers. However, time spent exchanging direct messages will not count toward the two-hour daily limit.

No notifications at night and during school hours

Under the terms of the settlement, notifications on minors’ accounts will automatically be disabled from midnight to 6:00 a.m. On school days, notifications will also be muted from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., with the aim of reducing distractions during classes.

At the same time, likes on posts and other content will be completely hidden from teenage users of both platforms. The change is intended to reduce social comparison and the pressure that can result from the public display of how much engagement posts receive.

Most of the new features will be activated automatically or offered as an option to teenagers within the next six months.

New systems for identifying underage users

More time will be needed to develop the new systems through which Meta will attempt to determine which users are actually children or teenagers, even if they have declared a different age when registering.

Full implementation of the mechanisms for identifying underage users is expected to take up to a year.

This issue is considered critical, since the new restrictions can work only if the company knows, or is able to estimate with reasonable accuracy, the actual age of each account holder.

Meta has developed more than 60 safety tools for Instagram alone. Many of these are now activated automatically; however, in the past, several features were offered as optional tools, requiring users or parents themselves to activate them.

Internal documents presented during the trial showed that the company knew optional tools generally had limited usage. Despite the low activation rates, however, it continued to roll out certain safety features without making them the default settings.

The $18 billion settlement

The trial began after 29 U.S. states filed a lawsuit, a number corresponding to almost two-thirds of the United States. Formally, the case concerned the protection of children’s privacy online and was based on the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

The law was enacted nearly 30 years ago, long before today’s major social media platforms emerged. At the center of the case was Meta’s collection and use of data belonging to children under the age of 13 over a number of years.

In practice, however, the proceedings evolved into a broader challenge to the company’s claims that it effectively protects underage users.

The agreement provides that Meta will pay up to $18 billion over a decade. The amount is significantly smaller than the financial penalties it was estimated to face if it lost the trial.

The extreme theoretical scenario envisioned a maximum fine for every child who used one of the platforms for more than half an hour per day over a 12-year period. Based on that calculation, the total could have reached $1.4 trillion, roughly equivalent to the entire market value of Meta.

Such a fine was considered extremely unlikely, but even the more realistic estimates referred to potential penalties of hundreds of billions of dollars.

Meta does not admit to any illegal or harmful conduct as part of the settlement.

The testimony that put pressure on Meta

The trial concluded after just five days and before the company’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, was called to testify. The testimony that preceded this, however, placed significant pressure on Meta.

Arturo Béjar, a former Instagram engineer and later public-interest whistleblower, testified that he had previously informed management about harmful content and incidents affecting children, without the necessary measures being taken.

Another executive testified that he did not remember writing in a presentation that Meta sometimes chose to pay fines for regulatory violations rather than make the necessary changes.

These claims contradict the company’s public position, which for months and across multiple court cases has maintained that it has strong mechanisms in place to protect children.

Possible expansion of the measures outside the U.S.

The changes are initially expected to be implemented in the United States. However, it is considered likely that similar measures will soon be demanded by other countries as well, as international concern grows over the effects of social media on children’s mental health and safety.

Meta argues that the new features will only be truly effective if they are adopted by competing platforms as well. In a highly competitive environment, apps such as TikTok and Snapchat may be called upon to introduce similar restrictions.

The question remains, however, whether young users will continue to use the platforms with the same intensity once notifications, likes, and time spent on them are significantly restricted.