Meta has agreed to a landmark settlement with US states over allegations that its social media platforms exposed children to harmful content and encouraged addictive patterns of use.
The agreement is expected to bring significant changes to the way Instagram and Facebook operate for users under 18 in the United States, including limits on daily usage, overnight restrictions and stronger parental controls.
The settlement follows a major legal battle involving states that accused Meta of designing its platforms to keep young users engaged for long periods.
The case began in 2023, when 29 US states sued the company. They alleged that Meta's platforms encouraged addictive behaviour, did not adequately verify users' ages, made it possible for teenagers to bypass parental controls and failed to properly protect young users from harmful content.
The states also alleged that Meta violated children's online privacy protections by collecting, retaining and using personal information from children under 13 without appropriate parental consent.
The legal pressure intensified this year.
Meta has already faced other cases involving allegations that its products harmed young users. In March, a US jury ordered the company to pay $375m in a case brought by New Mexico. A further $567m award followed in another phase of the New Mexico proceedings.
Against that background, Meta agreed to settle the broader claims.
The company has denied wrongdoing, but the agreement requires it to make major changes to its platforms and pay substantial amounts over a 10-year period.
The maximum payments under the main agreement total about $16.7bn to 47 states, Washington, DC and several US territories.
California could receive about $2.2bn, while New York could receive approximately $1.1bn. Texas has reached a separate settlement worth more than $1bn. Some states plan to use part of the money for children's mental health services.
Despite the size of the settlement, it does not require Meta to completely change every part of its business model.
The company will not be required to eliminate personalised recommendations or targeted advertising.
It also does not directly address every type of content that researchers have linked to concerns among young users, including material that can contribute to negative feelings about body image.
The most visible changes will be experienced by young users.
Children and teenagers under 18 will face a two-hour daily limit on Meta's platforms.
There will also be an overnight curfew running from midnight until 6am.
The aim is to reduce the amount of time young users spend on the platforms and discourage late-night use.
Meta will also change several features that can encourage social comparison.
Likes and reactions on children's accounts will be hidden, while cosmetic filters that alter a user's appearance will be disabled by default.
Parents will be able to override some of these settings with their consent.
Notifications will also be reduced during school hours.
For teenage users, most push notifications will be disabled between 8am and 3pm, reducing interruptions during the school day.
Parental supervision will become another major part of the new system.
Designated parents or guardians will receive more information about how their children use Meta's platforms.
They will be able to see information about time spent on the apps and the usernames of social connections and accounts that message their children.
Parents will also receive a daily notification when a teenager sends a message to an adult account for the first time.
The notification will include a link to the adult's account.
In addition, parents will be notified when a teenager searches for terms associated with suicide, self-harm or eating disorders.
Age verification is another important part of the agreement.
Meta will have to improve the technology it uses to determine users' ages, including a combination of its own systems and third-party tools.
The effectiveness of those systems will also be subject to regular external audits.
Age verification has become a major challenge for social media companies around the world.
Australia, for example, has introduced a ban on social media use by people under 16, but its internet safety regulator has found that many young teenagers and preteens continue to use social platforms.
Weak age-checking systems have been identified as one reason the restrictions are difficult to enforce.
Meta will initially pay about 70 percent of the settlement, or roughly $12.7bn, over the next decade.
The remaining amount, estimated at around $5bn, is tied to whether competing platforms adopt comparable measures and agree to similar financial commitments.
Meta has also indicated that it could reduce the daily limit from two hours to one hour if rival platforms adopt similar restrictions.
That provision is significant because Meta operates in a highly competitive social media market. If only one major company imposes strict limits, users could potentially move to other services.
The settlement therefore attempts to encourage broader industry-wide changes.
The new measures will not appear overnight.
After court approval, non-personalised feeds are expected to be introduced within four months.
Broader compliance measures would follow within six months, while major age-assurance requirements are expected within a year.
For now, these measures are intended for users in the United States.
It remains unclear whether Meta will introduce the same system globally.
However, the company is facing increasing regulatory pressure in other markets, particularly Europe, where authorities are already investigating its approach to child safety and potentially addictive design.
The European Union has accused Meta of designing Facebook and Instagram in ways that can encourage addictive use and has questioned whether the company has adequately assessed risks to users' physical and mental health.
European officials are now waiting for Meta to propose changes to address those concerns.
The UK is also moving towards stricter regulation.
The government has announced plans for a broad social media ban for people under 16 next year and is considering additional measures such as overnight restrictions and limits on infinite scrolling.
Brazil has introduced its own protections, including rules requiring accounts belonging to children under 16 to be linked to legal guardians.
The country has also seen legal action against several major social media companies over alleged failures to protect young users.
South Korea has also responded to the Meta settlement by calling for stronger protections that could eventually be applied worldwide rather than only in individual markets.
Child safety advocates have broadly welcomed the settlement but warn that it does not solve every problem.
One of the main criticisms is that the agreement focuses heavily on how long teenagers use social media, rather than fundamentally changing the algorithms that encourage repeated engagement.
Critics argue that limiting usage is useful, but the underlying design of the platforms also needs to change.
Several features remain outside the main settlement changes.
These include disappearing messages, infinite scrolling, livestreaming and gifting.
Child safety advocates have also called for stronger safeguards around AI chatbots, particularly when young users raise issues involving mental health or personal safety.
Another concern is that not every child has a parent or guardian who can actively monitor their online activity.
That means relying too heavily on parental supervision could leave some young users without adequate protection.
Experts therefore argue that platforms themselves need to build stronger safeguards into their products rather than placing most of the responsibility on families.
The settlement is consequently being viewed as an important step, but not the final answer.
It represents one of the most significant changes yet imposed on a major social media company over youth safety.
At the same time, the agreement leaves major parts of Meta's recommendation and advertising systems intact.
The real test will be whether the new restrictions reduce harmful patterns of use and improve the experience of young people.
A two-hour daily limit could reduce screen time.
An overnight curfew could prevent late-night use.
Parental notifications could make it easier for families to identify potential risks.
Improved age verification could make the restrictions more enforceable.
But none of these measures alone can guarantee that children will be protected from harmful content or addictive design.
The settlement also signals a broader change in how governments view social media.
For years, platforms largely determined their own safety systems.
Now governments and courts are increasingly demanding concrete changes to how these products are designed and operated.
That trend is likely to continue.
The debate is no longer simply about whether children should use social media.
It is increasingly about how social media companies should design their platforms when children are using them.
Meta's settlement could therefore have consequences beyond the United States.
If regulators in Europe, Asia and other markets impose similar requirements, the company may eventually have to create more uniform safety standards worldwide.
The pressure could also spread to competing platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube.
The agreement's financial structure already provides an incentive for competitors to adopt comparable measures.
If they do, Meta could face additional restrictions and payments under the settlement.
Ultimately, the case marks a major shift in the relationship between technology companies and regulators.
Meta remains one of the world's largest social media companies, but its latest agreement demonstrates that the design of platforms aimed at young users is increasingly becoming a matter for courts and governments.
For parents, the immediate changes are relatively straightforward: less time online, fewer notifications during school hours, greater visibility into children's interactions and stronger age checks.
For the technology industry, the message is broader.
Child safety is increasingly being treated as a core product-design responsibility rather than an optional feature.
Whether Meta's new measures genuinely improve the online experience for children will depend on how effectively they are enforced and whether regulators continue pushing companies to address the underlying design choices that can encourage excessive use.
