Meta and a group of state attorneys general announced on Wednesday a settlement agreement in which the social media giant will pay up to $17 billion and make changes to its apps after allegations that its technology harms children’s mental health.

The company, which owns Facebook and Instagram, will pay a potential maximum of roughly $17 billion to 47 states, three U.S. territories and the District of Columbia over 10 years as part of the settlement, according to court documents.

The settlement agreement is subject to court approval.

As part of the agreement, Meta also proposed making a slew of changes to its user terms for those 18 years old and under, including a default two-hour daily time limit across Instagram and Facebook, blocking access to the apps at night, muting notifications during school hours, hiding likes and reactions on posts, and prohibiting “extreme makeup filters.”

Meta also said it would invest in stronger technology to identify accounts belonging to teenagers and improve content restrictions for them, which includes preventing them from following or interacting with age-inappropriate accounts. Parental controls will be strengthened to alert them to interactions with potentially suspicious accounts and provide occasional updates on their child’s usage, Meta said.

“The framework we’ve negotiated will empower parents to easily manage how their children access our platforms,” Meta’s chief legal officer, CJ Mahoney, said in a statement. He added that the forthcoming changes to Meta’s social media apps “set the right path forward for our whole industry” and urged other platforms to follow suit.

The lawsuit was brought by attorneys general of California, Colorado, New Jersey and Kentucky as part of a coalition of dozens of states and U.S. territories. They alleged, among other things, that the company harmed children with its technology and fueled a youth mental health crisis.

The case went to trial in a California federal court last week. Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, took the stand on Tuesday and testified that there are no “silver bullets” when it comes to protecting young users on the platform. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had also been expected to testify in the trial before the settlement was reached.

Meta and other social media companies like TikTok, YouTube and Snap have faced a wave of legal action from states and individuals not unlike the lawsuits against tobacco companies in the 1990s. In multiple cases — including the one Meta agreed to settle on Wednesday — the companies are accused of deceiving the public.

Several cases are set to go to trial in the coming months and could lead to significant changes in how social media apps operate, especially when it comes to underage users.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said at a news conference Wednesday that the changes Meta has committed to can serve as an “appropriate blueprint for what other members of the industry should do.”

“So to those other members of the industry, if they’re following here, they should take a close look at the settlement agreement and think about how they might want to make commitments to this blueprint,” Bonta said.

Lisa Rubin contributed reporting.

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