Meta agrees to safety changes on Instagram and Facebook – but only in US, for now

Meta Platforms Inc. has reached a legal settlement of up to $18 billion and agreed to impose strict limits on teen usage of Facebook and Instagram. These changes to the social media platforms will initially apply only to users in the United States. The new safety rules include restricting the amount of time young users can spend on the applications and preventing them from disabling safety settings.

Additionally, Meta has committed to monitoring these changes. According to Bloomberg, the company will limit teens to two hours per day on Facebook and Instagram and block access from midnight to 6 am unless parents grant permission. The platform will also disable most push notifications during school hours, 8 am to 3 pm, and improve measures to prevent children from accessing age-restricted content.

This settlement comes as concerns over the impact of social media on children grow globally, with several countries implementing or planning to introduce restrictions for younger users. Australia was the first nation to ban social media for children under 16 in December, while Italy requires parental consent for sign-ups for users under 14 and Britain plans to approve a ban for under-16s. Denmark announced in November its intention to ban social media for children under 15.