Youth Harm Liability Settlement and Enforcement Risk

Meta’s reported approximately $17–18 billion teen-safety settlement imposes age assurance, nighttime restrictions, feed and like changes, parental tools, and five-year independent audits while removing the previously cited $1.4 trillion theoretical liability overhang. Implementation costs, audit effectiveness, holdout states, the September 8, 2026 New Mexico privacy trial, suspected CSAM advertising failures, and possible EU under-15 restrictions remain unresolved.