Facebook and Instagram are about to become a little less addictive for younger users – at least in the US.
Meta has agreed to a sweeping set of changes to how teenagers use Facebook and Instagram after reaching an agreement with a bipartisan group of 52 attorneys general across US states, territories and the District of Columbia.
The agreement, which received judicial approval in August, settles a major legal dispute over allegations that Meta designed its platforms to keep young users engaged while failing to adequately address risks to children. Meta has denied wrongdoing, but the settlement will see the company pay approximately $18 billion over 10 years, while introducing a range of new protections for users under 18. Meta’s announcement and Reuters’ reporting on the settlement provide the details.
Instagram and Facebook are Getting a Curfew
One of the biggest changes is a two-hour daily limit across Facebook and Instagram for teenagers.
Once those two hours have been used, continuing to use the apps will require parental permission. The agreement also introduces a midnight-to-6am block, meaning teens will not be able to view their feeds, watch Stories or Reels, or post during those hours.
Notifications will also be muted during school hours, between 8am and 3pm, apart from direct messages and certain account security and safety alerts.
Meta is also introducing prompts after every 15 minutes of continuous use, alongside reminders when a teenager reaches 60 and 90 minutes of daily usage.
Essentially, Facebook and Instagram are moving towards a model where spending more time on the platform is no longer automatically treated as a good thing.
The Algorithm Gets an Off Switch
Perhaps more interesting than the time limits is the change to how teenagers experience their feeds.
Teen users will be able to choose a non-algorithmic feed as their default. Instead of Meta’s recommendation systems deciding what appears next based on their behaviour, users can opt for a feed that is not personalised in the same way.
They will also be able to turn off autoplay, meaning another video will not automatically begin playing once the previous one ends.
Likes and reactions will be hidden by default, while Meta is also strengthening restrictions around age-inappropriate content and unwanted contact from adults.
That represents a notable change for platforms whose recommendation systems and engagement features have been central to keeping people scrolling.
But There is Another Problem: How Old Are You Actually?
One of the trickier parts of the agreement is age verification.
Meta already tries to identify underage users using signals such as birthdays, account activity and other contextual information. Under the new agreement, the company says it will invest in stronger technology to detect accounts that may belong to under-13s and to identify teenagers who may have entered an adult birthday when creating an account.
The problem is that identifying someone’s age online is not as simple as asking for proof of identity.
Meta is not being required to make every user upload a passport or record a video selfie. Instead, the company is looking at ways of improving age detection while dealing with the privacy and legal complications that come with collecting information about children.
Reuters notes that the settlement requires stronger age-assurance measures while stopping short of a universal photo-ID or video-selfie requirement. The agreement will also see an independent auditor monitor Meta’s compliance. Reuters’ report on age verification goes into more detail on the issue.
Meta Wants TikTok and YouTube to Follow
There is an important catch to all of this.
The agreement only works as a broader solution if teenagers are protected across the platforms they actually use.
Meta has explicitly called on TikTok and YouTube to adopt similar measures, arguing that restricting teenagers on one app could simply encourage them to move to another.
That is more than a suggestion. Around 30% of the settlement – approximately $5.3 billion – is conditional on TikTok and YouTube introducing certain safeguards and making matching payments.
The proposed industry-wide approach could also make Meta’s own restrictions tougher. If its major rivals sign up, the daily limit would drop from two hours to one hour per app, while Night Mode would expand from midnight–6am to 10pm–7am.
For now, though, those stronger provisions depend on other platforms joining the agreement.
Is Social Media Finally Changing?
That might be the more interesting story here.
For years, social platforms have largely competed for attention. The longer people stay, the more opportunities there are to serve them content, recommendations and advertising.
Now one of the world’s biggest social media companies has agreed to put deliberate limits on how much time teenagers spend on its platforms, reduce notifications, offer a non-personalised feed and make certain engagement features less prominent.
That does not mean Meta has suddenly abandoned the engagement-driven model that built Facebook and Instagram. It does, however, show how quickly the conversation around social media and young people is changing.
The agreement applies to participating US states and territories, with most of its terms required to remain in place for 10 years. The time-limit and Night Mode commitments begin with a five-year term, with the possibility of stronger and longer-lasting provisions if other platforms join the framework.
And this conversation is unlikely to stay in the US.
Governments around the world are increasingly asking how old someone should be before they can use social media, how platforms should verify that age, and how much responsibility companies should have for the way their products are designed.
Meta’s new rules may therefore end up being less of an exception and more of a preview of where social media is heading.
Read the full settlement and see exactly what Meta agreed to.