Meta ($META) has agreed to pay up to $16.7 billion to settle claims from U.S. states that Facebook and Instagram were designed with addictive features that harmed children and teenagers. The agreement also requires sweeping changes to how users under 18 access both platforms, although Meta has denied wrongdoing.
Teen accounts will face a default two-hour daily limit across Facebook and Instagram and will be blocked from most platform features between midnight and 6 a.m. without parental approval. Push notifications will be muted during school hours, while parents will receive stronger supervision tools and greater visibility into account activity.
Meta must also hide like and reaction counts, restrict certain beauty filters, strengthen age verification – including technology designed to identify users’ likely ages – and improve enforcement against children under 13. Critics have warned that stronger age-assurance systems could raise additional privacy concerns even as the settlement seeks to reduce harmful and compulsive social media use.
