Meta has reached a settlement with several US states as a landmark court case targeting the social media titan’s impact on child safety comes to a resolution.

The social media firm behind Facebook and Instagram will pay a maximum of $16.8bn (£12.26bn), court documents show.

While Meta says its settlement does not mean it admits any wrongdoing, the District of Columbia Attorney General described the settlement as a “monumental public health victory.”

The settlement will see Meta change some of its platform designs to make them safer for younger users, including time-oriented blocks and daily time limits.

The social media firm was accused of violating many federal and state privacy laws for children, as well as negatively impacting young people’s mental health and well being.

The states alleged that Meta’s platforms tried “to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens.”

The claims alleged that Meta purposefully targeted children for their data and their attention, which put them in harms way of seeing potentially harmful content or harmful adults.

The settlement will see Meta restrict the usage of its platforms to underage teens during school hours, with more robust parental controls and stronger age verification tools.

Meta said in a statement: “Today, we are announcing an agreement with a bipartisan group of 52 attorneys general across US states, territories, and the District of Columbia, building on our longstanding efforts to empower parents and support teens.

“The agreement includes a payment of approximately $18 billion, which can be used to fund youth online safety initiatives, among other state priorities.

“The payment will be distributed in annual instalments over a 10-year period.”

The settlement could continue to shift the tides as more private citizens and governments choose to sue Meta and other tech giants for their alleged harm to children and young people.

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Meta, however, is using the opportunity to challenge its social media contemporaries to also adopt its new limitations.

CJ Mahoney, Meta’s chief legal officer, said: “Our new Time Limit commitments, Night Mode features and usage limits during school hours set the right path forward for our whole industry, but this framework will only work if all our peers join us.”