Meta Platforms has agreed to settle a major social media harms case with US states, with Bloomberg reporting Wednesday that the company agreed to pay $16.7 billion according to a court filing. Wired reports the settlement is for up to $16.7 billion to 51 US states and territories and includes product changes, pending judicial approval, for how teenagers use Instagram and Facebook. The deal arrived early in what Wired describes as an expected 19-day federal trial over allegations that Meta failed to protect young users. Attorneys general representing some of the 29 states that had taken Meta to trial announced the settlement Wednesday, shortly before Instagram head Adam Mosseri was expected to return to the witness stand, according to Wired. The case centered on youth safety and alleged social media harms. Wired reports that all 29 states argued Meta violated federal child privacy laws by collecting data on users under 13. Four states — California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey — also alleged Meta misled parents about protections for adolescent users and used unconscionable practices in designing some features. The financial settlement is far below the outer risk Meta had described. Bloomberg’s video summary says the company’s worst-case estimate was $1.4 trillion, while Wired says the federal trial threatened more than $1 trillion in damages by Meta’s estimate. Wired also notes that Meta had previously lost state trials in California and New Mexico earlier this year, with nearly $1 billion in penalties. The product changes, as described by Wired, will apply to Instagram and Facebook pending judicial approval. Teen accounts will have a two-hour default daily time limit across both platforms, with parental approval required to disable it. The apps will also be blocked for teens by default between midnight and 6 am, and notifications will be muted between 8 am and 3 pm from August 15 through June 15 to reduce school-day interruptions. Meta also agreed to additional teen-use prompts and parental controls, according to Wired. Teens will receive prompts after 15 minutes of continuous use, plus notices at 60 and 90 minutes. Parents will be able to set a chronological feed as the default instead of an algorithmic feed and can turn off autoplay by default. Other default settings target social feedback and appearance filters. Wired reports that Meta will not show like and reaction counts by default for teen users, though California attorney general Rob Bonta characterized the change as a ban rather than a default setting. Meta will also disable cosmetic surgery and extreme makeup filters for teens, according to Wired. Meta framed the settlement as an effort to establish a broader standard for teen safety, and Wired reports that the company urged YouTube and TikTok to adopt similar changes. Wired also notes that YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok had previously resolved similar lawsuits out of court, while Meta had repeatedly chosen to fight cases at trial. Who benefits: The settling states and territories are slated to receive payments. Parents would gain more default controls over teen use of Instagram and Facebook if the product changes receive judicial approval. Who's exposed: Meta is the company subject to the payment and, pending approval, the product changes described by Wired. YouTube and TikTok are named because Meta urged them to adopt similar changes, according to Wired.