Statement on Meta's Multibillion-Dollar Settlement: Meta settlement is a good start. Let's finish the job of ending platform manipulation and addiction once and for all.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 26, 2026) – Meta has agreed to pay up to $16.7 billion and make key design changes to resolve a lawsuit led by California, alongside a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general, that showed the corporation designed Facebook and Instagram to be addictive to children. During trial, it became clear Meta knew and concealed the harms they were causing.
The Center for Media & Digital Governance (CMDG) at Open Markets Institute issued the following statement from Director Dr. Courtney Radsch:
“This settlement is real money and forces design changes Meta spent years fighting to avoid, and which now have the potential to benefit not only children in the United States but also around the world. The case altogether should revitalize efforts to end the use of social media for manipulation and addiction.
“It’s important to ensure this settlement represents a floor, not a ceiling. The record built through discovery in this and other related cases clearly puts the onus now on regulators and legislators to take the next step, to end the misuse of social media platforms once and for all. And this means for all users – not only children and teens. No human being should be subject to the exploitation of their most intimate vulnerabilities for profits that maintain harmful monopolies over our society.
“Another reason this deal is important is that it clearly signals that the problem extends far beyond Meta, and all but demands that law enforcers and regulators impose the same set of rules on TikTok and YouTube.”
CMDG and OMI’s recent work on platform liability and structural remedies is available at: