Delaware, Maryland Join Multistate Settlement With Big Tech Giant Meta Over Child Safety

August 26, 2026/Joe Ciccanti

Delaware and Maryland are among nearly all states involved in a multistate settlement with Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. Delaware will receive at least $73.6 million over 10 years, while Maryland could receive up to $327 million. The settlement resolves allegations that Meta’s platforms were designed with addictive features and failed to adequately protect young users. If approved, Meta would be required to:

  • Limit children’s use of Instagram and Facebook to two hours a day, with periodic breaks.
  • Restrict overnight access and school-time notifications.
  • Strengthen age verification and parental controls.
  • Add safeguards against bullying and harmful content involving suicide, self-harm and eating disorders.
  • Limit certain social-comparison features, including beauty filters and visible “likes.   
 
The agreement also resolves claims involving Meta’s sharing of Facebook user information with third parties, including Cambridge Analytica. According to the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, the settlement must be approved by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
 
Additional Information from the Maryland Office of the Attorney General:
 

The settlement requires Meta to implement a series of safety features on Instagram and Facebook, including:

 

·       Hard cap daily time limits and “Productive Pauses” for children: for its two platforms, Instagram and Facebook, a combined two-hour daily time limit with mandatory pauses after 15 minutes of continuous use and again at 60 and 90 minutes to interrupt endless scrolling. These limits remain in effect for five years. If the settlement terms become more widely adopted by other social media platforms, the daily limit on each platform will drop to 60 minutes for 10 years.

·       “Nighttime blocks” restricting children’s access from 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.

·       Limited school-time access for children, eliminating push notifications on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. during the school year.

·       Robust age assurance measures to more effectively verify the age of young users.

·       Safer, age-appropriate content controls, including stronger safeguards against bullying, content promoting eating disorders, and content related to suicide and self-harm.

·       Stronger, more user-friendly parental controls.

·       Limits on social comparison features, including beauty filters and visible “like” counts, that have been linked to poor mental health outcomes in kids and teens.

·       Both the implementation and efficacy of the features will be regularly assessed by an independent auditor and the settling states.

 

According the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, these settlement terms impose groundbreaking changes to Instagram and Facebook and are more significant and comprehensive than previously ordered by any court.

The settlement is subject to approval by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Joining Jennings in the settlement are the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, 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. 

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