Meta to impose new youth limits in major deal

Meta (META) has reached a proposed consent judgment with state attorneys general that would overhaul how Instagram and Facebook operate for users under 18. The settlement centers on concerns about mental health harms and aims to constrain how much time minors spend on the platforms and how content is presented to them.

A core requirement is a default two‑hour daily time limit for teen accounts across Meta’s (META) major social apps. This cap can be lifted only with parental permission, making parents central to any decision to expand a minor’s usage beyond the standard limit.

In addition to daily caps, the agreement mandates a default nightly access block for minors. This night‑time cutoff is intended to ensure that young users are not on the platforms during late hours unless a parent changes the settings.

The settlement further requires default muting of push notifications for teen accounts during school hours. Reports describe these school hours as running from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on school days, limiting real‑time distractions while students are in class.

Meta must also implement product‑design changes on teen profiles. For minors, like counts are to be hidden by default, certain cosmetic and beauty filters are to be banned, and autoplay features must be capable of being turned off to reduce continuous engagement.

The agreement obliges Meta to offer options that let teens or their guardians deactivate algorithmic personalized feeds. It also calls for stronger age‑assurance measures, subject to outside auditing, to help prevent children who are too young from accessing the platforms.

Meta described the settlement payment as approximately $18 billion, to be distributed in annual installments over a 10‑year period. Roughly 70% of this total is earmarked for participating states, to fund youth online safety initiatives as determined by those jurisdictions.

Up to about 30% of the total payment is contingent on competitor platforms adopting similar safeguards. Additional funds, reported as roughly $5.3 billion, would be triggered if rivals such as TikTok and YouTube implement comparable measures, including a one‑hour daily limit and expanded night modes.

The agreement includes conditional escalation provisions that tighten obligations if these competitors move in step with Meta’s changes. The structure is intended to encourage broader adoption of youth‑protection standards across major social media platforms.

The proposed settlement must be approved by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in the Northern District of California before it takes effect. Until the court enters the consent judgment, the new limits and product changes will not be mandatory.

Children’s advocates, former employees, and researchers quoted in coverage describe the settlement as going further than Meta’s prior steps, while warning that it may not fully address issues tied to recommendation systems and addictive feature design. These reactions underscore that regulatory pressure on youth safety in social media is likely to continue even if the deal is approved.