TRENTON, N.J. – New Jersey is in line for a massive payday from Meta after helping secure a landmark multistate settlement over allegations that Facebook and Instagram harmed young users. But with potentially more than three-quarters of a billion dollars headed to the state, one major question remains: Where will all that money actually go?
The answer, at least for now, is that most of it has not been specifically earmarked for youth mental health, schools or families harmed by social media. New Jersey’s share of the settlement is expected to include between $525 million and $752 million from the youth social-media case, plus another $20.3 million resolving separate privacy claims involving Cambridge Analytica.
That means the state could ultimately receive roughly $545 million to more than $772 million, depending on how the settlement’s payment formula plays out. The agreement still requires court approval, and the publicly announced settlement does not create a dedicated New Jersey fund telling taxpayers exactly how every dollar must be spent.
- New Jersey could receive more than $772 million from the combined Meta settlements.
- The settlement imposes major new protections for children using Facebook, Instagram and other Meta platforms.
- The available settlement information does not earmark New Jersey’s entire recovery for children’s mental health, schools or direct payments to residents.
Hundreds of Millions Could Flow to New Jersey
The massive settlement grew out of litigation accusing Meta of deliberately designing features that encouraged children and teenagers to spend excessive amounts of time on its platforms while minimizing the potential harm.
New Jersey was among the states leading the case.
Meta agreed to pay states and other plaintiffs $17.1 billion to resolve the youth-related claims. The settlement does not include an admission of wrongdoing by the company.
New Jersey’s portion of that case is expected to fall somewhere between $525 million and $752 million.
Another $20.3 million is headed to New Jersey through a separate settlement resolving claims connected to the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal.
That puts New Jersey’s combined potential recovery at approximately $545.3 million on the low end and $772.3 million on the high end.
Attorney General Jennifer Davenport called the agreement an important victory for families.
“As a parent, protecting your kids is always your North Star, and this agreement achieves critical protections for our children today,” Davenport said.
So Where Is New Jersey Going to Spend the Meta Money?
That’s where things become less clear.
Despite the lawsuit’s focus on children, social-media addiction and mental health, the announced agreement does not say that New Jersey’s entire hundreds-of-millions-dollar recovery must be deposited into a dedicated children’s mental health or internet-safety fund.
Nor has the state announced that the money will be divided among New Jersey families whose children used Instagram or Facebook.
The Attorney General’s Office routinely recovers money through civil lawsuits and settlements, but what happens afterward depends on the particular settlement, underlying law and state budget process.
For comparison, some major New Jersey settlements explicitly restrict how money can be spent. The state’s recent PFAS settlements created dedicated accounts for pollution cleanup and other environmental purposes, spelling out where portions of the money must go.
The announced Meta agreement does not provide a comparable New Jersey-specific spending plan for the state’s entire recovery.
That leaves an important question for lawmakers and the Sherrill administration: Should hundreds of millions recovered from a lawsuit centered on alleged harm to children be directed back toward children?
Potential uses could include school mental-health services, treatment programs, suicide prevention, digital-literacy education or enforcement of online child-safety laws. But unless state officials formally dedicate money to those purposes, those are possibilities — not announced plans.
Settlement Changes How Meta Can Treat Children Online
For parents, the settlement isn’t only about money.
Meta agreed to significant changes affecting how children and teenagers interact with social media.
The agreement calls for a two-hour daily limit for teens across Meta platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Teen users would also receive prompts encouraging them to stop after reaching 60 and 90 minutes of use.
The company must restrict teen access between midnight and 6 a.m. and limit push notifications between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
Restrictions would also apply during school hours.
Meta must make teen accounts harder to discover and periodically give young users an opportunity to switch to a non-personalized feed.
Independent audits are another part of the agreement, creating outside oversight of Meta’s compliance with the youth-safety provisions.
Those requirements closely resemble protections New Jersey recently enacted through its own online child safety legislation.
Sherrill Calls Settlement a Victory for Families
Gov. Mikie Sherrill called the settlement a victory for New Jersey families and said the state would continue pushing other technology companies to adopt similar protections.
“Big Tech is finally being held accountable for the harm it is causing, especially to our children’s mental health and safety,” Sherrill said. (New Jersey Monitor)
“More important, parents and teens will finally get some relief, including groundbreaking new safety features to protect kids online,” she added.
Meta has cautioned that restrictions applying only to its platforms could simply push teenagers toward competing social-media services.
“We know that when teens are restricted on one app, they simply move to another,” the company said.
That could become the next challenge for states attempting to regulate children’s use of social media across an industry rather than one company at a time.
For New Jersey taxpayers, however, another issue will be worth watching closely once the settlement receives final approval: whether the state creates a transparent plan for its potentially $772 million recovery and how much, if any, ultimately goes toward addressing the very problems that prompted the lawsuit.
How much money could New Jersey receive from Meta?
New Jersey is expected to receive between $525 million and $752 million from the youth social-media settlement and another $20.3 million from the Cambridge Analytica privacy settlement.
Will the Meta settlement money go directly to New Jersey families?
The announced settlement does not establish direct payments of New Jersey’s entire recovery to families. The state’s ultimate handling of the money will depend on the settlement terms and applicable state budgeting and spending rules.
Will New Jersey spend the money on children’s mental health?
That has not been established. Although the lawsuit centered on alleged harms to young people, officials have not announced a plan dedicating the state’s entire recovery to youth mental health, schools or child-safety programs.
Sources: New Jersey Attorney General’s Office; multistate Meta settlement agreement; New Jersey Monitor.
