(The Center Square) – Tennessee will receive more than $751 million in a $17.1 billion settlement with Meta platforms announced Wednesday, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said.
Forty-seven states, Washington, D.C. and three territories were involved in various levels of litigation against the tech platforms over claims that the company designed Instagram with features that were addictive to children.
The settlement also ends a separate case heard in Davidson County Chancery Court over child safety on social media platforms, according to Skrmetti.
“We took Meta to trial because Instagram was hurting kids and misleading parents,” said Skrmetti. “Now we’re ending the trial with a settlement that imposes unprecedented protections for kids and delivers record-setting money for Tennessee’s Children’s Digital Protection Fund. The settlement addresses Meta’s role in an industry-wide problem, and now the rest of Big Tech needs to catch up to Meta and implement similar protections.”
The Children’s Digital Protection Fund was approved by the Tennessee General Assembly during the 2026 session. Money deposited into the fund will go toward research on the impacts of social media on the mental health and well-being of minors, law enforcement resources and suicide prevention for minors, according to the bill.
In addition to the financial settlement, Meta has agreed to block access for children between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. and to limit school-time access on its Instagram and Facebook platforms, according to information from Skrmetti’s office. The company will also add stronger verification measures and parental controls.
Meta called out platforms TikTok and YouTube to also add stronger child safety protections.
“While this is an important step, the fact is that teens move fluidly between dozens of apps a day,” the company said in a post on its website. “All platforms should empower parents and support teens by putting the same measures in place, because we know that when teens are restricted on one app, they simply move to another.”
The agreement is the largest consumer protection settlement besides the Big Tobacco settlements reached with tobacco companies in the 1990s, according to Skrmetti. It also resolves legal action against Meta for sharing nonpublic Facebook information with third parties.
