Alaska to receive about $16 million from Meta in settlement requiring new safeguards for children

THE ALASKA STORY

Aug. 26, 2026 – Alaska will receive approximately $16 million under a multistate settlement with Meta Platforms that would require the owner of Facebook and Instagram to pay up to $17.1 billion and make significant changes to how children and teenagers use its platforms.

Acting Alaska Attorney General Cori Mills announced the agreement Wednesday, calling it the largest Big Tech settlement in history. The agreement resolves claims from 47 states, the District of Columbia, and three US territories alleging Meta designed addictive features, exposed young users to mental health harms, and misled the public about its platforms’ safety.

The settlement is still subject to court approval. The maximum payment also is conditional: According to the New York attorney general’s announcement, Meta would pay at least $12.1 billion, increasing to $17.1 billion if other major social media companies reach similar settlements with the states.

“This settlement was a necessary and imperative step to protect our children,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy said.

“Social media promised us connection and the ability to productively engage with each other in life’s joyful and mundane moments. What social media gave us was a generation of children scarred by bullying, harassment, doom-scrolling and predation.”

The Alaska Department of Law’s Consumer Protection Unit represented the state in the negotiations. Alaska’s announcement did not specify how its approximately $16 million share would be spent or whether individual Alaskans would be eligible for payments.

The proposed changes include a combined two-hour daily limit for young users across Facebook and Instagram, nighttime restrictions from midnight to 6 a.m., and limits on push notifications during the school day.

The agreement also calls for interruptions to prolonged scrolling, including prompts after 15 minutes of continuous use and pauses at 60 and 90 minutes of cumulative daily use.

The restrictions apply to users younger than 18, with exceptions for messaging features. Parents would be able to authorize disabling the time and content restrictions, according to a New York attorney general’s summary.

Alaska officials said the initial time limits would remain in effect for five years. If Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube adopt comparable terms, a second phase would impose a 60-minute daily limit on each platform for 10 years.

Meta also would be required to strengthen age verification, provide more accessible parental controls, and improve safeguards against bullying and content promoting eating disorders, suicide, and self-harm. Other provisions address beauty filters and visible “like” counts, which states identified as contributing to unhealthy social comparison.

An independent auditor and the participating states would regularly assess whether the safeguards are implemented and effective.

“As a mom of two, I can’t tell you what a relief this settlement brings to me knowing there will be better safeguards on Meta’s platform to keep teens healthy and positively engaged,” Mills said.

Mills credited cooperation among consumer protection teams across political party lines and acknowledged that concerns about children’s online safety extend beyond Meta.

The agreement follows a nationwide investigation that began in 2021. States alleged that Meta designed Instagram to keep children engaged while internally documenting harms and failing to adequately warn parents. Meta denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle. The settlement also addresses states’ claims involving Meta’s sharing of nonpublic Facebook user information with third parties, including Cambridge Analytica, before the 2016 election.

“This settlement equips parents to limit how Facebook and Instagram disrupt the school day and their kids’ sleep, creating safeguards that encourage teenagers to put down their phones and reengage with the world around them,” Alaska Assistant Attorney General Helen Mendolia said.