Facebook Settles Social Media Accusations for $18 Billion

By Sue Kientz

On August 26, 2026, Facebook’s parent company, Meta, agreed to an $18 billion settlement that was accepted by most of the U.S. states who sued the company, claiming the program’s design negatively impacted children. Attorneys for the states argued that children had become addicted to social media or were physically harmed by it, pointing to instances of suicide and suicide attempts reported by grief-stricken parents. (1) Many parents expressed relief that the settlement includes not just the financial penalty but restrictions on underage access to Facebook that Meta will put in place to prevent school-age children from looking at (or getting notifications from) Facebook during the school day or at night-time, as well as limiting total access to two hours per day. Others, however, point out that the settlement dollar amount, while seemingly huge, is a pittance for Facebook considering its ad revenue.

About $16.7 billion will be paid out over 10 years to 47 states, Washington DC, and U.S. territories Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Mariana Islands. Additionally, Meta will pay $5 billion more if the owners of other popular social media apps Snapchat, YouTube, and TikTok decide to enact similar restrictions.  

Meta and its owner, Mark Zuckerberg, were under significant pressure to change Facebook’s experience for those underage – specifically, to reduce engagement. Social media companies overall have been beset by thousands of similar cases in federal and state courts from individuals, schools, and local government. Zuckerberg’s position, as explained by Instagram head Adam Mosseri during his testimony, was to appeal any negative verdict against Meta, but would agree to significant changes to Facebook if a settlement was reached. One advantage of the settlement is, Meta and Facebook do not admit wrongdoing.

To get the inside story on how Mark Zuckerberg sees this development, astrology has some interesting observations to offer. While Zuckerberg’s birth time is not known, one can turn to the recent bounty of the Kuiper Belt discoveries of the last 26 years to flesh out his chart. (2) Zuckerberg was born with Sun (24 Taurus) opposite (180 degrees; adversarial but can cooperate) Moon (23 Scorpio) and Mars (19 Scorpio), suggesting an emotional person (Full Moon), especially where money or value (Taurus Sun) is concerned, but one who jealously guards (Mars) his privacy and personal details (Moon). Facebook’s founder appears very sensitive, shown by his Sun/Moon-Mars opposition being square (90 degrees; a problem, must work to overcome) dwarf planet Gonggong (23 Aquarius), the latter representative of people who can be moved by others, but (since positioned in challenging square) any display might feel too upsetting. The Sun/Moon-Mars axis has another square, from Makemake (20 Leo), marker of extraordinary intelligence and technical expertise, something that Zuckerberg apparently has in spades. Makemake’s capabilities can be so unusual and elevated, that an individual thus gifted can find it hard to connect with others who aren’t on his wavelength, leading to misunderstanding of the person’s intentions. (3) Those are his challenges, but on the outright positive side, the Meta CEO has Sun sextile (60 degrees; supportive, a benefit) dwarf planet Aya (24 Cancer), sign of a predisposition to attract, foster, or identify viable new ideas, business ventures, or technical solutions, and his Sun is also trine (120 degrees; can easily express or implement) dwarf planet Haumea (20 Virgo), which is a powerful plus, especially in the case of his promises for transforming Facebook. Haumea’s energy is creative but also one that brings dramatic, sweeping change. (4) This can disturb those not ready for it, but with the positive trine, the outcome is prone to be even better than the original situation.

When the settlement was announced, the Sun (3 Virgo) and Mercury (2 Virgo) had recently passed square Zuckerberg’s Sun, symbolizing the relief he then experienced (physically and mentally, with Sun-Mercury), considering the much larger awards that were being pursued against him and his flagship company. But in his future one sees interesting supports coming up, as dwarf planet Orcus (17 Virgo) is already trine his 24 Taurus Sun and will be for 10-plus years (by 2036, 27 Virgo is well within trine range). Orcus fosters the desire and opportunity to reorder things, recategorize, redo and improve what you have, and such activities are enhanced with Orcus in Virgo, a sign likely to be deemed co-ruled by Orcus. Also transiting trine to the Sun is another large dwarf, Máni (19 Capricorn), a celestial prominent in the charts of great thinkers (Newton, Einstein, Hawking, and Edison, to name a few) (5) whose life interests are in research, deep thought, the search for better ideas or ways to do things. Máni will be exactly trine Zuckerberg’s Sun by the 2030s and in range some years after that, as he will likely not only provide the significant changes he promised, but will look to improve even further “his baby,” this powerhouse moneymaker he invented, Facebook.  

Title Image credit: Story and issues described by author to ChatGPT, which generated the above Image.

Notes and References

1. Jones, D.N., J. Stemple, and G. Bensinger, “Meta agrees to pay $18 billion to settle US lawsuits over children’s social media addiction,” 26 August 2026, Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/business/meta-reaches-18-billion-settlements-over-childrens-social-media-addiction-2026-08-26/
2. Zuckerberg, Mark, 14 May 1984, White Plains, NY, no time (10:04 p.m. rectified, details at Astrodienst link), https://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Zuckerberg,_Mark
3. Kientz, S., “Watch out, it’s Makemake!,” the Makemake chapter from More Plutos, appeared in the Astrological Journal, Nov./Dec. 2014 issue
4. Kientz, Sue, “Pluto and Haumea: Having Power, and Using that Power,” eNews newsletter of The National Council for Geocosmic Research, Inc. (NCGR), Issue 215, June 30, 2015
5. See astrological keywords and examples of historical figures for Máni, Orcus, Aya, Gonggong, and other significantly sized dwarf planets at “Dwarf Planet Basics,” Astrology News Service, 6 November 2024,  https://astrologynewsservice.com/articles/dwarf-planet-basics/

For more details about the angles or relationships between planets, see Lynne Hyde’s “Astrology Basics,” 12 November 2024, ANS, https://astrologynewsservice.com/articles/astrology-basics/