Washington: Meta has reached a nearly $18 billion agreement with a bipartisan group of 52 US Attorneys General that would impose daily time limits and overnight restrictions on teenagers using Instagram and Facebook.
The agreement, announced on Wednesday, is subject to judicial approval. Most of its provisions would remain in force for 10 years across participating US states and territories.
Under the plan, users under 18 years would face a default two-hour daily limit across Instagram and Facebook. Teenagers could disable the restriction only with parental permission. Time spent across multiple accounts would count towards the combined limit.
Meta would also block teenagers from accessing the apps between midnight and 6 a.m.
Notifications would be muted between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., except for direct messages and account security or safety alerts.
Teenagers would receive prompts after every 15 minutes of continuous use and further notices after their total daily usage reaches 60 and 90 minutes. Direct messaging would remain available during the time, night and school restrictions.
The agreement would also allow teenagers to choose a non-algorithmic feed and turn off autoplay. Like and reaction counts would be hidden by default. Meta would block cosmetic surgery and extreme makeup filters for teenagers.
Meta said parents would receive information when a teenager links a secondary account or interacts with an account considered potentially suspicious. They would also get periodic usage updates and notices about attempted changes to protective settings.
Meta called on TikTok and YouTube to adopt similar restrictions, saying that teenagers frequently move between platforms.
“Because teens move fluidly across dozens of apps, we need an industry-wide solution,” Meta Chief Legal Officer C.J. Mahoney said.
“We therefore call on our industry peers, TikTok and YouTube, to implement this new framework, right away.”
The agreement calls for a nearly $18 billion payment over 10 years.
Participating states would receive about $12.7 billion. The money could support youth online safety programmes and other state priorities.
The remaining nearly $5.3 billion would be released only if TikTok and YouTube introduce a one-hour daily limit, night restrictions and age-assurance measures, and each company makes a matching payment linked to that portion of the funds.
Meta said it expected to record a nearly $10 billion legal expense in the third quarter of 2026. The charge was not included in the expense range issued during its second-quarter earnings call.
If TikTok and YouTube join the framework, Meta’s daily limit would fall to one hour per app and its overnight block would expand from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
The time-limit and night-mode commitments would also be extended from five years to 10 years.
Meta is the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. Facebook was launched in 2004, while Meta later expanded its social-media business through the acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp.
(IANS)
