Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg leaves federal court in downtown Los Angeles after defending the company in a landmark social media addiction trial, February 19, 2026.Jon Putman | Anadolu | Getty Images Meta’s decisive social media trial has just concluded in California, but now attention is shifting to the industry as a whole, with TikTok, YouTube and Snap next in the line of fire. The owner of Instagram and Facebook reached a settlement in the second week of a lawsuit brought by a coalition of dozens of US states, alleging that the tech giant had misled the public about the harm its platforms posed to younger users. The deal includes a payment of up to $18 billion, part of which is tied to conditional actions by other social media giants. Meta said it would also make fundamental changes to its platforms for users under 18, including, but not limited to, a 2-hour daily usage limit that only a parent can remove, disabling extreme makeup and cosmetic surgery filters, stricter age verification measures, and night mode. Meta said it would only pay 70% of the settlement, or about $12.7 billion to the states over a 10-year period. The remaining $5.3 billion is conditional on the company’s rivals, TikTok and Alphabet’s YouTube, also making similar changes to their apps for younger users. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, co-leading this case along with New Jersey, Colorado and Kentucky, said Meta’s settlement “puts others in the industry on notice that we are not done, and we expect similar results from them as well.” “No company wants what Meta faced in Oakland,” Rob Lalka, professor of practice in management at Tulane University and author of “The Venture Alchemists: How Big Tech Turned Profits Into Power,” told CNBC. “I would expect TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat to make changes before facing that scene. These platforms are completely dependent on parents, users, advertisers trusting them, and the deal reflects a business decision about reputation risk, which now the boards of directors of these other companies must also make,” Lalka added. CNBC has contacted YouTube, TikTok and Snap for comment. Social media giants were already facing increased pressure this year as governments around the world considered imposing social media bans on teenagers. Meanwhile, Meta, TikTok, YouTube and Snap have faced a litany of lawsuits. Meta and YouTube lost in a social media addiction lawsuit in Los Angeles earlier this year, which was brought by a plaintiff who claimed his mental health was harmed by addictive features like autoplay and infinite scrolling. Meta also lost a separate social media case brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez after a court found the company violated the state’s child safety laws and ordered it to pay more than $900 million in fines. In an interview with CNBC on Thursday, Bonta said he approved of Meta calling out other platforms in the settlement. “That’s appropriate. This is something that requires an industry-wide solution.” He explained that the state of California is currently pursuing active litigation against TikTok. “We’re suing TikTok now, so we’re looking to make sure they adopt similar practices and commitments that Meta adopted, and we’re also very interested in Snap and YouTube,” Bonta said. Bonta, New York Attorney General Letitia James and 14 other state attorneys filed a lawsuit against TikTok in 2024 for violating consumer protection laws. They said TikTok harms younger users with addictive features that maximize the amount of time they spend on the platform. The case is ongoing. Bonta added that the state is in communication with Snap and is holding talks with TikTok, hoping to get YouTube to the table as well. While Meta is trying to position itself as a leader in youth online safety, it neglected those issues for years, according to Lalka. “Let’s be clear about how we got here. It took attorneys general to intervene after the damage was already done, because Congress never passed a law to prevent it. “These new rules did not come from elected policymakers, they were negotiated in an agreement with the company that is being regulated, and Meta seeks to ensure that its competitors will face the same rules,” Lalka said. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.
