There are some changes coming for teen metaplatform users.
The owner of Facebook and Instagram agreed to settle a lawsuit alleging it designed social media platforms to addict young people for up to $18 billion on Wednesday, according to court documents and a Meta blog post.
The settlement includes several new rules and restrictions for teen users of Meta’s platforms, including a 2-hour daily limit and a “default block” for app use at night.
In a blog post, Meta said that, pending court approval, protections and controls will “automatically apply” to under-18s on Instagram and Facebook. The federal judge overseeing the lawsuit has not yet approved the settlement, although Meta and the plaintiffs have agreed to the terms.
“Ensuring that teens have a safe and productive experience on our platforms is an absolute necessity for Meta,” the company wrote in the blog post. “We want to do this right for parents and teens, which is why we worked with the attorneys general to set a new industry standard.”
Meta said more than $5 billion of their settlement is contingent on YouTube and TikTok each paying about $5 billion and implementing similar restrictions on teen users.
Representatives for YouTube and TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent Wednesday morning.
The settlement allocates money to 47 states, the District of Columbia and several U.S. territories.
“We have reached a settlement with Meta that will make social media less dangerous for our children and make a world of difference for children and their families,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a news release.
The multibillion-dollar settlement “represents the largest penalty we have seen to date for a social media platform,” said Kate Winick, principal analyst at Forrester.
Shares of Meta fell less than 1% immediately after news of the deal.
“Today’s settlement is important not only because of the price tag, but also because it suggests that Meta understands that her arguments will not work well in court,” said Minda Smiley, a senior analyst at EMARKETER.
“That said, the changes Meta will make for users under 18 don’t seem incredibly drastic,” Smiley added. “Many of these are optional and critics will certainly say they don’t go far enough. The settlement is a win for Meta in that regard.”
Here’s a look at the new restrictions revealed in the settlement and how they work.
1. Screen time
Instagram and Facebook users under the age of 18 will be given a daily time limit of 2 hours, according to court documents. The limit can only be lifted by a parent.
The daily limit will drop to one hour if YouTube and TikTok agree to “similar terms,” Bonta said in the release.
According to court documents, the time limit does not apply to long-form content or use of Meta’s messaging platforms. The limit is reset every day at 12:00 noon
Time spent scrolling Facebook or Instagram counts cumulatively towards the total 2 hours, Meta said, adding that it would track users’ time across multiple accounts.
2. Night mode
Meta said it would set a “default block” on Instagram and Facebook from 12pm to 6am for users under 18.
“This means that, for example, teens will not be able to post or view their Feed, Stories, Explore or Reels,” the company wrote in its blog post.
From 10 PM to 7 AM, push notifications that are not related to safety or device security will be disabled for teen users.
If different social media platforms If you agree to similar conditions, the night block will be extended from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
3. School mode
Push alerts on Meta platforms will be stopped from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Meta’s busy year in court
The last lawsuit was filed in 2023, alleging that Meta had designed its platforms to encourage excessive use by young people and that it had illegally collected and used data from users under the age of 13. The plaintiffs said Meta violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, among other things.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg did not testify during the trial, which began on August 18. The settlement means he won’t have to testify. A day before the settlement was announced, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri took the stand.
This isn’t Meta’s first big lawsuit of the year.
In March, a jury from New Mexico ordered Meta to pay $375 million in fines in another case targeting child safety on its platforms. Months later, the judge ordered Meta to pay another $567 million, bringing the total fine to $942 million.
Both Meta and Alphabet-owned YouTube faced another legal battle in Los Angeles Supreme Court, resulting in a jury finding both Meta and YouTube negligent. The ruling ordered Meta to pay the plaintiff $4.2 million and YouTube $1.8 million. TikTok and Snapchat settled the case before going to trial.
Meta has said it will appeal the rulings from both New Mexico and Los Angeles.
Just a year earlier, in 2025, Meta took on the Federal Trade Commission in a major antitrust case that threatened to break up the tech giant. Ultimately, a federal judge ruled so Meta was not a monopoly.
