Meta is preparing major changes to Instagram and Facebook for users under 18 in the United States after agreeing to an $18 billion (€15.4 billion) settlement with 48 states over allegations that its platforms harmed young people.
The agreement, reached on Wednesday and approved by US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, will introduce a two-hour daily usage limit for teenagers, a nightly block from midnight to 6am and hidden “like” counts. The settlement will be paid over 10 years, with most of the new safeguards remaining in effect for the same period.
Meta said the measures will apply only in the US. The company will also strengthen its systems for determining users’ ages by combining its own technology with third-party tools. Independent audits will assess how accurately those systems identify minors and prevent children from being incorrectly classified as adults.
Under the agreement, Meta will set targets for false positives, where adult users are mistakenly identified as minors. If an account is identified as belonging to a child under 13 and removed, Meta will also review the ages of that user’s friends.
The changes are being introduced as critics continue to question whether limits on screen time can address the wider problems associated with social media.
Arturo Béjar, a former Meta engineering director who testified during the federal trial, described the settlement as an important development but warned that parents should not assume Instagram is now completely safe for children.
He has argued that content recommendation systems can encourage teenagers to continue scrolling and expose them to harmful material. Béjar said users could still feel compelled to remain engaged even after reaching the two-hour limit.
Several protections will be activated automatically rather than requiring parents or teenagers to turn them on. The two-hour daily limit will be enabled by default and can only be disabled with parental approval. The overnight restriction will also be automatically applied.
Other options, including disabling video autoplay and switching from algorithmically selected posts to chronological feeds, will remain voluntary.
Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay, said the agreement placed too much responsibility on parents and did not go far enough in changing recommendation systems.
Meta will also allow adults to use some individual controls, such as daily time reminders, although the complete package designed for teenagers will not be available to them.
Researchers and child safety advocates said it could take time to determine whether the changes work. Yaël Eisenstat of the Cybersafety Research Center said the settlement demonstrated that safer platform designs were technically possible but warned that no single measure would solve the broader problems.
The settlement includes the District of Columbia and US territories. New Mexico and Florida were excluded after pursuing separate legal action against Meta.
