Meta has agreed to an $18 billion settlement with 29 US states over children's safety, committing to sweeping changes to restrict minors' access to Instagram and Facebook. The new protections will automatically apply to users under 18 in participating states and territories, pending judicial approval, and most controls are required to remain in place for 10 years.
One of the most notable changes is a daily two-hour time limit for teenagers, which can only be disabled with parental permission. The limit will be cumulative across Facebook and Instagram, and will also apply if Meta detects someone using multiple accounts. Once the limit is reached, teens will be locked out of both apps.
Meta will also introduce a default 'Night Mode' block between midnight and 6 a.m., preventing underage users from accessing, posting or viewing any part of its platforms. Teenagers will receive prompts after every 15 minutes of continuous usage, and notifications will be muted by default during school hours (8 a.m. to 3 p.m.), except for DMs and security alerts.
Other changes include allowing parents to set a non-personalised feed as the default, hiding like and reaction counts by default, blocking extreme makeup filters, and allowing parents and teens to turn off autoplay. Meta said it is also strengthening technology to identify users aged 13 to 17, even if they provide an adult birth date.
The settlement will be distributed to the states over 10 years, but 30% of it, about $5.3 billion, will only be paid if YouTube and TikTok implement the same limits. Meta has published an open letter asking those platforms to join it in setting an industry-wide commitment.