The main Instagram settlement most people are searching for is the $68.5 million class action in Illinois over biometric privacy, which paid Illinois users roughly $32 each in June 2024 and is now closed to new claims. Instagram’s parent company Meta still faces active litigation over youth addiction and child safety, and individual claims in that litigation can still be filed by people who meet the eligibility criteria.
The $68.5 Million Illinois Biometric Privacy Settlement
In Parris v. Meta Platforms, Inc., filed in DuPage County, Illinois, plaintiffs alleged that Instagram collected and stored users’ biometric data without the notice and consent required by the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act. Meta denied wrongdoing and agreed to a $68.5 million settlement fund.1InformationWeek. Biometric Data Privacy: Instagram to Pay $68.5M in Class Action Settlement
The class covered anyone who used Instagram while physically in Illinois at any point between August 10, 2015, and August 16, 2023. The court granted final approval on March 7, 2024, and payments were issued on June 6 and 7, 2024.2Instagram Privacy Settlement. Instagram Privacy Settlement Many class members reported receiving about $32, which reflects a pro-rata share of the fund after administration costs, attorneys’ fees, and service awards to the named plaintiffs were deducted.3NBC Chicago. Payments Begin for Class Action Instagram Settlement in Illinois
Can You Still File a Claim?
No. The deadline to submit a claim passed on September 27, 2023, and no new claims are being accepted. If you submitted a valid claim but never received your payment, there are still two paths. Class members who selected electronic payment but whose transfer failed were supposed to be reissued checks by mail. Anyone who never received a check can request a reissue through the official settlement website.2Instagram Privacy Settlement. Instagram Privacy Settlement
If you were not an Instagram user physically located in Illinois during the class period, you were never eligible for this settlement, regardless of what other states’ privacy laws may say.
Other Meta Privacy Settlements You May Be Thinking Of
Several large Meta privacy settlements have been reported in overlapping news cycles, and it’s easy to confuse them with the Instagram case.
In 2021, Meta paid $650 million to settle a separate Illinois BIPA class action over Facebook’s facial-recognition “Tag Suggestions” feature. At the time, it was the largest consumer privacy settlement in U.S. history.4Vinson & Elkins. Texas Biometrics Case Highlights Need for Consent: Meta Settles for $1.4 Billion
In July 2024, the Texas Attorney General announced a $1.4 billion settlement with Meta over the same Tag Suggestions feature, alleging violations of the Texas Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act and the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act. That agreement is the largest privacy settlement ever obtained by a single state and did not include an admission of liability by Meta. Because it was a state enforcement action, no individual consumer payments were distributed.5Texas Attorney General. Attorney General Ken Paxton Secures $1.4 Billion Settlement With Meta
Meta also agreed in 2023 to pay $725 million to resolve In re: Facebook, Inc. Consumer Privacy User Profile Litigation, the class action arising from the Cambridge Analytica data-sharing scandal. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the settlement in February 2025, and it became effective in May 2025.6Keller Rohrback. Facebook, Inc. Consumer Privacy User Profile Litigation
The Instagram Addiction and Youth Harm Lawsuits
Separate from the privacy settlements, Instagram faces a large and still-active body of litigation alleging that platform design features cause depression, anxiety, eating disorders, body dysmorphia, self-harm, and suicidal ideation in young users. Thousands of these cases have been filed by individuals, families, school districts, and state governments.
Most of the private cases are consolidated into a federal multidistrict litigation, In re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation (MDL No. 3047), before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in the Northern District of California. The defendants include Meta, Snap, ByteDance, and Google. As of mid-2026, roughly 2,400 to 2,600 lawsuits are pending in the federal MDL, with another 3,300 or more consolidated in California state court.7Reuters. Meta Pulls Ads Aimed at Recruiting Plaintiffs for Social Media Addiction Lawsuits
In November 2023, Judge Gonzalez Rogers allowed design-defect and failure-to-warn claims to proceed, dismissing only some allegations that fell under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act or the First Amendment. The court rejected the argument that social media platforms are not “products” under product liability law.8FindLaw. In Re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation The next federal bellwether trial is set to begin on February 8, 2027.9U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. In Re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation
Who May Qualify to File an Individual Claim
Firms handling these cases generally look for plaintiffs who are currently 25 or younger, used a major social media platform as a minor for an average of at least three hours a day, and have received medical treatment for a condition such as depression, severe anxiety, an eating disorder, body dysmorphia, self-harm, or suicidal thoughts. Family members can file on behalf of a minor. These cases are typically handled on a contingency-fee basis, so the plaintiff pays nothing upfront and the attorney’s fee comes from any eventual recovery.10ClassAction.org. Instagram Addiction Lawsuit Information
Useful evidence includes screen-time logs and app-usage data, medical and therapy records documenting a diagnosed condition, school records showing a decline in performance, and documentation linking the timing of heavy platform use to the onset of symptoms.10ClassAction.org. Instagram Addiction Lawsuit Information There is no global settlement for the addiction litigation and no standardized payout. Any recovery depends on the severity of the harm, the strength of the evidence linking it to platform use, and the jurisdiction.
Verdicts and Settlements Shaping What These Cases Are Worth
Three outcomes in 2026 give some sense of where the litigation stands.
On March 24, 2026, a Santa Fe, New Mexico, jury found that Meta willfully violated the state’s Unfair Practices Act by misleading consumers about the safety of Facebook and Instagram and failing to protect children from predators. The jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million in civil penalties, calculated at $5,000 per violation.11CNBC. Jury Reaches Verdict in Meta Child Safety Trial in New Mexico
The next day, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury awarded $6 million to a 20-year-old plaintiff from Chico, California, who testified that she began using YouTube at age six and Instagram at age nine and that platform design features fueled depression and body dysmorphia. The award was split evenly between $3 million in compensatory damages and $3 million in punitive damages, with Meta responsible for 70 percent and Google for the rest. Snapchat and TikTok had settled before trial.12Courthouse News Service. Meta and Google Hit With $6 Million Verdict for Social Media Harms to Young Woman On June 15, 2026, a California judge denied Meta and Google’s requests to set aside the verdict or grant a new trial, rejecting their Section 230 and free-speech arguments and confirming the case properly focused on platform design rather than user content.13Beasley Allen. Judge Upholds $6 Million Social Media Verdict Against Meta, Google
In late May 2026, just before trial, all defendants settled the Breathitt County, Kentucky, school district case for a combined $27 million. Meta’s share was $9 million. Snapchat and TikTok each paid roughly $8 million, and YouTube paid just over $2 million. None of the companies admitted wrongdoing.14WKYT. Breathitt County Schools Receive $27 Million Settlement From Social Media Companies
Government Lawsuits Against Meta
On October 24, 2023, a bipartisan coalition of 42 state attorneys general filed a coordinated set of lawsuits against Meta. Thirty-three states filed a joint federal complaint in the Northern District of California, Florida filed its own federal suit, and eight states plus the District of Columbia filed in their respective state courts.15New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. AG Platkin, 41 Other Attorneys General Sue Meta for Harms to Youth The complaints allege Meta knowingly designed addictive features to hook young users, collected data from children under 13 without parental consent in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, and concealed internal research showing its platforms harmed teens.16New York Attorney General. Attorney General James and Multistate Coalition Sue Meta for Harming Youth
In April 2026, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court became the first state high court to rule that Section 230 does not shield Meta from claims about the design of addictive features, allowing Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s lawsuit to proceed. Justice Dalila Argaez Wendlandt, writing for a unanimous court, said the claims target Meta’s “own conduct” in designing a platform that “capitalizes on the developmental vulnerabilities of children.”17The Guardian. Meta Massachusetts Youth Social Media Addiction Lawsuit
The Federal Trade Commission has a parallel proceeding. In May 2023, the agency voted 3–0 to propose modifying a 2020 privacy order to prohibit Meta from monetizing data collected from users under 18 across all its services, including Instagram.18Federal Trade Commission. FTC Proposes Blanket Prohibition Preventing Facebook From Monetizing Youth Data As of July 2025, the most recent docket entry was an order staying the show-cause proceeding, and the proposed modification has not been finalized.19Federal Trade Commission. Facebook, Inc. FTC Case
These government cases do not produce individual consumer payouts. Any recovery for an individual harmed by Instagram would come through the MDL or state-court addiction cases, not through the attorneys general or FTC actions.