The state of Arkansas could collect more than $172 million spread over 10 years from Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. Meanwhile, the company says it will take steps to reduce its platforms’ potential harms to teens.

Those new developments would come as a result of a settlement announced Wednesday between the company and 48 states along with the District of Columbia and three U.S. territories.

Attorney General Tim Griffin was the nation’s first attorney general to file a lawsuit when he did so in 2023. He argued that Meta had violated Arkansas’ Deceptive Trade Practices Act by misleading young people and their parents about its platforms’ addictive properties. 

Eventually every state sued. The company announced Wednesday it was settling with almost all of them, paying a combined $18 billion over 10 years. The exceptions being New Mexico, which has already won at trial, and Florida. The latter’s attorney general called the settlement “peanuts” and said the state is going to court. 

That’s understandable, considering Meta reported revenues of almost $201 billion in 2025.

Actually, only 70%, or $12.7 billion, of the $18 billion Meta settlement would be guaranteed. The company would pay another $5.3 billion if some of the settlement’s provisions also apply to YouTube and TikTok. Meta Chief Legal Officer C.J. Mahoney said the settlement otherwise wouldn’t work because young people use those platforms, too.

Arkansas’ guaranteed share of the $12.7 billion would be at least $172,459,936, which could increase if Meta pays out the other 30%. Griffin spokesperson Jeff LeMaster said the money would pay for mental health services and protecting young people.

The California-based judge presiding over the case still must approve the settlement before it takes effect. The case had already entered its second week at trial when the agreement was announced.

Meta promises changes to Facebook, Instagram

While Arkansas’ $172 million is nothing to sneeze at, the more important development could be the changes Meta would make to its Facebook and Instagram platforms. Most of the changes would be in effect for 10 years. 

One of the changes would be a combined two-hour time limit that parents could override. That limit would be cumulative across Facebook and Instagram and would include a user’s multiple accounts. Teens also couldn’t access the sites from 12 a.m. until 6 a.m., which a parent also could override. The sites would prompt young users after every 15 minutes of continuous use and then again when total daily usage reached 60 minutes and 90 minutes. This provision would remain in effect for five years. 

The company also says it would implement more effective age verification tools, which would be critical to the settlement’s success. Otherwise, teens could just lie about their ages, which they can do now. 

Other changes include age-appropriate controls meant to protect young people from bullying and harmful content. Also, a user’s page by default would hide “likes” and reactions, which are powerful and potentially unhealthy social comparison tools.

One other provision would establish an independent social media research foundation. Also, an independent auditor would report to the states about Meta’s compliance with the agreement.

This is not the only time Griffin has taken on Big Tech. He announced in 2023 that he was suing TikTok and its owner, ByteDance, the same day he announced he was suing Meta. He said that company was misleading the public about the availability of adult content to young users, and that the data was available to Chinese communists. He’s also sued Temu, the China-based online marketplace, saying it was harvesting Americans’ data. He’s also sued Alphabet, which is the parent company of Google and YouTube, and, recently, Snap and the social gaming sites Roblox and Discord.

Meanwhile, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has combated teen online use by passing the Bell to Bell, No Cell Act. It prohibits students from using their personal digital devices during the school day.

These huge tech companies now have bipartisan targets on their backs for understandable reasons. They’re fantastically profitable, and they have amassed their wealth through products that have been shown to be unhealthy. In fact, former Facebook executive Tim Kendall told Congress in 2020 that the company designed the site to be addictive. 

Social media is a valuable tool if used to briefly connect with relatives and old friends. When I was a child, those people would have been reachable only by snail mail or by an expensive long-distance phone call. 

Unfortunately, it has also changed how many users relate to themselves, other people, and the truth.

We old folks are responsible for how much time we waste on social media, but it’s appropriate for the government to protect teens. Let’s hope the settlement results in people of all ages focusing less on their social media “friends,” and more time with their in-real-life ones. 

© 2026 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Steve Brawner’s column is syndicated to 24 news outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.