The Meta Settlement Will Put Limits on Instagram for Teens. They’re Still Vulnerable

Advocates for children view Meta's legal settlement to address concerns about teenage social media use as a significant and overdue improvement, promising more parental oversight than ever before. However, they also caution that the settlement places a heavy burden on caregivers and unreliable age-verification systems. Instead of going through a lengthy federal civil trial and possible appeals in Northern California, Meta agreed to a proposed settlement with state attorneys general on Wednesday.

The settlement, which includes a payout of up to $16.7 billion over 10 years, would have minimal impact on Meta, which generated over $200 billion in revenue last year. The settlement's changes, including forced time limits, notification blocks, and a chronological feed option for teens, would be some of the most substantial adjustments Meta has made due to ongoing scrutiny of its policies.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta called it a "watershed moment." However, child safety advocates and mental health experts express doubt about the effectiveness of Meta's proposed changes. Digital rights activists, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, warn that the enhanced age-verification measures could "enshrine Meta's harmful surveillance into law."

Meta has not yet responded to requests for comment on these concerns. The settlement mandates that parents receive alerts when teens communicate with suspicious accounts or create a secondary "finsta" account to bypass parental controls. Parents will also receive periodic updates on their children's Instagram and Facebook usage, including attempts to evade parental controls.

Most measures do not restrict specific content adolescents can see, except for blocking exposure to extreme makeover filters. However, new limits on when young users can scroll their feeds have been imposed. Access will be blocked overnight and limited to two hours during the day, unless parents allow more. Notifications will be muted by default from 8 am to 3 pm during the US school year, from August 15 to June 15.

From August 15 to June 15, users may opt into a non-algorithmic feed and turn off video autoplay, though the specifics of how Meta plans to make these options useful for teens remain unaddressed. Parents can make these settings the default on their children's accounts. These changes, such as hiding "like" counts by default, have been previously tested among users and introduced as an option.

Despite internal research showing that visible "like" counts could contribute to harmful social comparison, Meta only offered this feature as an option for users to adjust. Carol Vidal, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, acknowledges the proposed changes as broadly positive, particularly the muted notifications at night for sleep health and Meta's proposed limits on plastic surgery filters.

However, she emphasizes that measuring the effectiveness of these changes could take years of research. Experts remain concerned that Meta's proposed changes primarily introduce friction to user experience. Measures like daily limits, nighttime blocks, or muted notifications can be circumvented through secondary accounts or false ages. While Meta agreed to strengthen age assurance, few details were provided.