What Indiana’s $296 million Meta settlement means for Hoosier kids

In August 2026, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita announced a settlement with Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram. It is the largest Big Tech settlement in Indiana’s history. Indiana is guaranteed at least $296 million, and could receive as much as $419.4 million, as part of a $17.1 billion agreement with 47 states and four territories.

The states alleged that Meta designed features to keep children and teens hooked, while telling the public those features were safe. Families across Indiana already knew something was wrong. This settlement puts real limits in place, and it gives our state a rare chance to invest in the children who have been hurt.

Worried about a child right now? Jump to where to get help.

What changes for kids on Instagram and Facebook

Once the court approves the agreement, Meta must:

• Limit minors to two hours a day across both apps, with required breaks after 15, 60 and 90 minutes
• Block access for kids from midnight to 6 a.m.
• Stop push notifications from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on school days
• Verify users’ ages more reliably
• Strengthen protections against bullying, eating-disorder content, and self-harm and suicide content
• Give parents stronger, easier-to-use controls
• Limit beauty filters and visible “like” counts that drive comparison

An independent auditor and the states will check whether these changes are working. That accountability matters, and we’re grateful to the Attorney General’s office for pursuing it.

Screen time is only part of the danger

Addictive design keeps kids online. Once they’re there, some of them meet people who mean them harm. One in five Indiana children will be a victim of sexual abuse or online exploitation before age 18.

The most extreme cases are hard to imagine. In October 2026, a leader of an online network called 764 pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to sexually exploit children. Federal prosecutors say members looked for kids who were struggling with depression, groomed them, and then used threats to force them into sexual acts, violence and self-harm. Some victims were as young as 13. The FBI has warned parents nationwide about networks like this one.

Many parents never hear of these groups until something has already happened. That is why prevention education, for children and for the adults around them, is so important.

Warning signs of online harm

Most children online will never meet someone like this. The best protection is a calm, ongoing conversation, so your child knows they can come to you and remembers it. A few ways to start:

• Ask which apps and games they use, and who they talk to there. Stay curious, not angry.
• Tell them no one online should ask them to keep secrets, send photos or hurt themselves, and that they won’t be in trouble for telling you.
• Agree on device rules together, like phones charging outside the bedroom at night.

The FBI says no single sign means a child is being targeted. A pattern of these deserves a closer, calm conversation:

• Sudden changes in mood or behavior: withdrawn, irritable, dropping activities and friends
• Changes in eating, sleeping or appearance
• A new online “friend” your child seems infatuated with, or afraid of
• Anonymous gifts, money, or gaming currency arriving for your child
• Cuts, burns, patterned scars or carved words or symbols, often hidden under long sleeves
• Talk of death, of not being wanted, or of not being around

Where to get help

• If a child is in immediate danger, call 911.
• Report suspected abuse to the Indiana Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline: 1‑800‑800‑5556.
• Report online exploitation to the NCMEC CyberTipline or 1‑800‑843‑5678, and to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov or 1‑800‑CALL‑FBI (1‑800‑225‑5324).
• If your child is thinking about suicide, call 988 or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
• Save usernames, messages and screenshots, but don’t delete accounts or confront the person yourself.

Your local Child Advocacy Center can help your family after a report is made, with forensic interviews (one recorded conversation with a trained specialist, so a child doesn’t have to repeat their story), advocacy and counseling.

Where Indiana kids go to heal

Child Advocacy Centers are one of the nation’s largest gateways to youth mental-health care. Nationally, CACs provide or connect more than 200,000 children each year to counseling and other services that help them recover from trauma. They also work to prevent abuse and exploitation through education with children, families, schools and communities.

Here at home, Indiana’s Child Advocacy Centers served nearly 10,000 child victims of crime last year. When a child discloses abuse, the CAC is where law enforcement, child protection, prosecutors, medical providers and mental-health professionals come together, so the child tells their story once, in a place built for kids. And through the Indiana Prevention Education Coalition, led by kNot Today, 1.5 million Indiana students have received research-based body safety and online safety education.

Through the National Children’s Alliance’s Institute for Better Mental Health Outcomes, CACs are also growing the workforce, expanding access to proven therapies, and helping communities respond to new threats like online exploitation.

A chance to build something lasting

Settlement dollars come once. Used well, they can change what happens to a generation of Hoosier kids: the ones who need help recovering from harm that started online, and the ones we can reach before it does.

Indiana’s Child Advocacy Centers already do this work across the state, every day. As state leaders decide how to put this settlement to work for children, our centers are ready to be a partner.

Want to help? Find your local Child Advocacy Center to learn about prevention programs in your community, and share this post with the parents in your life.