Meta's Montana settlement affects all Facebook and Instagram users in the state through age checks, but it does not change Meta's Terms of Service. The title is partly misleading because the agreement primarily addresses youth safety and separately resolves older privacy claims. The Montana Department of Justice says those privacy claims involve Facebook's sharing of nonpublic user information before 2016. Its official materials do not describe new contractual terms for every Montana user.
Official resource:
- Read the official notice from Coag — Use this primary source to verify the official announcement.
Table of Contents
- Why adults are affected
- What happens when age remains uncertain
- Protections for users classified as teens
- What happens to age-assurance data
- Where the settlement applies—and where it does not
Why adults are affected
The settlement requires Meta to apply at least one age-assurance method to every covered platform user in participating states within one year of the agreement's effective date. Age assurance means estimating or confirming whether a user is an adult, a teenager or younger than 13. That requirement reaches Montana adults because Meta cannot identify minors without assessing the broader user population.
Under the filed consent judgment, Meta may use its own or commercial systems, including identification checks, facial age estimation, and reliable age signals from Apple or Google. The agreement does not say every person must submit identification or a facial image. It allows Meta to choose one or more approved methods, so users may encounter different checks.
What happens when age remains uncertain
A new user whose age has not been assessed receives default protections. After 14 days, Meta must treat that person as a teen regardless of the age entered during registration. There is one important distinction: someone who states that they are 18 or older receives the agreement's narrower adult default protections during that period.
An age assessment can later determine the applicable classification. Users should watch for an age-check request inside Facebook or Instagram and read what information the selected method requires. The settlement itself does not establish one universal verification screen or process.
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Protections for users classified as teens
Teen classifications trigger safeguards beyond the checks applied to adults. According to Meta's description of the approved deal, covered teen accounts receive: These measures apply automatically under the agreement. they are tied to Meta's age classification, not merely to the birth date a user enters.
- A combined two-hour daily limit across Facebook and Instagram
- A block on access from midnight to 6 a.m.
- Limits on notifications during school hours
- Regular prompts about time spent on the platforms
- Parental-control features
What happens to age-assurance data
Meta must minimize information collected for age assurance and ordinarily delete it after determining age status. The agreement nevertheless permits retention of specified under-13 training data and integrity metadata used to protect systems or detect misuse. The deletion rule also excludes a person's stated birth date, stated age and resulting teen-or-adult classification.
Users therefore should not assume that every detail connected with an age assessment must disappear. The practical privacy question depends on the method Meta presents. Before submitting an ID or facial image, users can review the accompanying notice to distinguish the verification material from the age classification Meta may retain.
Where the settlement applies—and where it does not
The requirements cover the web and app versions of Facebook and Instagram. They exclude direct-messaging functions such as Messenger and Instagram Direct. The agreement limits its obligations and required product changes to participating jurisdictions.
It does not create a nationwide rule for every Meta user. Montana is guaranteed about $89 million and could receive approximately $127.3 million from the multistate settlement. The Montana Justice Department says at least half of the state's proceeds must address harms associated with social media.
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