Meta has agreed to pay up to AUD$23.6 billion and introduce significant changes to Facebook and Instagram following a legal battle over the platforms’ impact on teenagers.

The settlement, announced in the United States on Wednesday, follows claims from 47 states that Meta deliberately designed its platforms to be addictive and failed to protect young users.

The agreement brings an early end to a trial that was expected to feature testimony from Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.

Facebook and Instagram will introduce a range of new safety measures for teenage users. These include a daily usage limit of two hours, blocking social media use at night and disabling push notifications during school hours.

The new safety measures will be activated by default, meaning teenagers and their parents will not have to manually turn them on.

Meta’s chief legal officer C.J. Mahoney said the changes would need to be adopted across the industry to be effective.

“Because teens move fluidly across dozens of apps, we need an industry-wide solution,” Mahoney said.

“But its success depends on all other social media platforms following Meta’s lead.”

The settlement also requires Meta to introduce stronger age verification and expand parental controls across Facebook and Instagram.

Meta has also urged competitors to adopt similar measures, arguing that teenagers use multiple platforms and cannot be protected by changes to only Meta’s platforms.

“We therefore call on our industry peers, TikTok and YouTube, to implement this new framework, right away,” Mahoney said.

Photo: By JD Lascia found HERE and is used under a Creative Commons Licence. This image has not been modified.