Abstract:
Meta recently said that as part of a settlement agreement with almost all states in the United States, the company will make major adjustments to the youth protection features of Facebook and Instagram. If the agreement is ultimately approved, users under the age of 18 will face a series of new usage restrictions and parental supervision measures.
According to the plan, teenagers' cumulative use time on Facebook and Instagram will be limited to two hours per day, and parents can choose to override this limit. The total usage time for both apps will be calculated together, rather than separately.
In terms of night use, teenage users will not be able to browse or post content from 0 am to 6 am every day; "school mode" will automatically mute notifications from 8 am to 3 pm. It is worth noting that the private message function is not affected by daily time limit, night mode and school mode.
Meta will also strengthen the usage reminder mechanism within the app: users will receive reminders after 15 minutes of continuous use, and will also receive reminders when the cumulative daily usage reaches 60 minutes and 90 minutes. Teens, meanwhile, can choose to turn off autoplay, and parents can force the setting on.
In terms of content recommendation, teenagers will be able to use information streams that are not personalized by algorithms, that is, content will no longer be provided based on the recommendation systems of Facebook and Instagram; parents can also ask their children to use this model. In addition, the number of likes and emoticon reactions on posts will be hidden from teenagers by default, and filters for medical cosmetic surgery and heavy makeup will not be open to them.
In terms of age verification, Meta plans to further strengthen the identification tools to discover accounts registered by users under the age of 13, as well as accounts used by teenagers between 13 and 17 years old but have not entered the age-appropriate experience. The company will also add new monitoring features for parents, such as sending notifications when teens link to a second account or interact with suspicious accounts, and provide regular usage updates.
As part of the settlement, Meta will pay states approximately $18 billion over the next 10 years to support cybersecurity programs for minors. By comparison, Meta's net profit in 2025 will be $60.5 billion. Meta said that $5.3 billion of the payment will be suspended unless TikTok and YouTube take similar measures.
Meta said that if TikTok and YouTube follow up and implement relevant protection plans, the company will adjust the cumulative daily usage limit of Facebook and Instagram to one hour for each application, and advance the night limit to 10 pm and extend to 7 am the next day.
Meta has publicly called on TikTok and YouTube to adopt measures such as a one-hour daily usage limit, night mode, and age verification, and has asked the two companies to pay US$5.3 billion each to match the amount Meta has suspended. Meta is obviously worried that if only Facebook and Instagram tighten restrictions, teenage users may turn to TikTok and YouTube, which may also have an impact on its platform revenue.
Previously, Meta was undergoing federal trial for this lawsuit. If the case proceeds, the company may face higher penalties. According to reports, California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey had previously sought civil penalties approaching $200 billion. The settlement was reached before Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was scheduled to testify.
However, Florida did not join the settlement and will continue to advance the lawsuit; New Mexico did not participate because the state had won a separate lawsuit against Meta earlier this year.
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