Meta has agreed to pay states $17 billion and to change how Facebook and Instagram work for teenagers, settling claims from 47 states that it deliberately designed those platforms to addict children.
Arizona is among the states covered. The trial was heard in federal court in Oakland, California, before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, and the investigation behind it was led by attorneys general from California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee and Vermont.
Meta has characterised the total as $18 billion, a figure reported to include a large separate award for Texas. Most individual state shares have not been made public. Virginia's was reported at $353 million.
The lawsuit accused Meta of deliberately building features that addict children to its platforms while concealing what it knew about the harm, and of routinely collecting data on children under 13 without parental consent in violation of federal law.
Arturo Bejar, a former Meta engineering director, testified that the company prioritised profits over safety.
The settlement is to be paid out annually over 10 years. Virginia's share was reported at $353 million, one of the few state figures made public so far.
What changes on the apps
The money will matter less to most families than the settlement's operating terms, which Meta has agreed to apply to Facebook and Instagram:
