The $18 billion is going to the states, not to individual families. It resolves claims brought by attorneys general, and the money will support state programs, including children's mental health initiatives. It also forces Meta to adopt enforceable safety measures for minors.

It's a landmark result. It puts a number on the harm regulators believe occurred. And it puts something else on the record: a legal finding that these platforms were built with addictive features aimed directly at young users.

That last part is why so many parents are reaching out to us right now.

Alongside the state action, families across the country have filed individual lawsuits against Meta and other social media companies. These cases are consolidated in federal court, and they are not covered by the $18 billion settlement. They are personal claims, brought by parents on behalf of their own children, seeking accountability for the specific harm their child experienced, whether that's a mental health crisis, an eating disorder, self-harm, or something even more serious.

The state settlement strengthens these individual cases. It shows that a court has already found enough evidence of intentional, addictive design to justify billions in penalties. Families bringing their own claims are no longer starting from zero. They're entering a legal landscape where the core conduct has already been examined at the highest level.

More cases are being filed every week. More internal documents are coming out through discovery. This is not the end of the story. It's closer to the middle.

We handle cases where powerful companies made choices that hurt real families. And we don't think parents should simply take Meta's word that everything is fine now. If your child struggled with anxiety, depression, disordered eating, self-harm, or other serious harm that you believe was connected to time spent on Facebook or Instagram, you may have a claim worth exploring, separate from anything happening at the state level.

We're not going to quote you a number. Every family's situation is different, and anyone who promises a payout before reviewing your case is not being honest with you. What we can say is this: the legal groundwork has shifted, the evidence is growing, and the window to bring these claims will not stay open forever.

Talking with our office costs nothing. We'll ask about your child's experience: how long they used the platforms, what changes you noticed, and when those changes began. From there, we'll tell you plainly whether we think you have a case worth pursuing and what that process would involve.

We know this is not an easy conversation for families. Watching your child struggle and wondering whether a company's design choices played a role is a heavy thing to carry. You don't have to sort through it alone, and you don't have to navigate the legal side by yourself.

If this week's news made you pause and think about your own family, that instinct is worth paying attention to. Call us or send a message, and we'll talk it through together. https://cohenhirsch.com/contact-us