Illinois is set to receive up to $768 million as part of a $17.1 billion multi-state settlement with Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined nearly three dozen attorneys general in suing Meta in 2023, alleging the company designed features to encourage addictive social media use among teenagers despite knowing about potential harms.
The settlement, which still requires court approval, would provide Illinois its share over a 10-year period. The money is expected to support youth mental health and online safety programs.
Meta also agreed to additional protections for teenage users. Those include stronger age-verification measures and restrictions on accounts belonging to users between 13 and 18.
The company will block teens from content feeds between midnight and 6 a.m., while notifications will be muted during school hours from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays during the school year.
Additional safeguards will restrict teen access to content involving eating disorders, suicide and self-harm, along with certain beauty filters and visible “like” counts.
The agreement is among the largest state consumer protection settlements in U.S. history.