Meta is set to make some of the biggest changes yet to its social media platforms for teenagers following a landmark child safety settlement with more than 40 states, the District of Columbia and multiple territories.
The agreement could require Meta to pay up to $17 billion over 10 years. It also requires the company to introduce stricter age assurances and several new protections for users aged 13-17.
The planned changes include a 2-hour default daily limit on app use, blocking access between midnight and 6 a.m., and muted notifications during school hours. Meta will also hide likes, disable cosmetic filters and allow teens to control video autoplay. Users will have the option to switch to a non-algorithmic feed.
Meta plans to introduce many of these default protections within the next 6 months. Stricter age-assurance measures could take up to a year.
To identify users who may be under 13 or between 13 and 17, Meta is developing a new prediction model. It will assess signals such as who users connect with, who they follow, their followers and interactions such as birthday greetings.
Age verification remains a major challenge, particularly without facial recognition. The issue has also triggered debate between Meta, Apple and Google over whether social media platforms or app stores should be responsible for age checks. Meta is separately developing age-gating technology in Australia, where social media access for children under 16 is being restricted.
Meta is also urging TikTok and YouTube to introduce similar protections. It has offered to pay $5.3 billion of the settlement if both platforms agree to contribute the same amount and introduce 1-hour default limits. Neither company has responded to the proposal.
The settlement has faced criticism from some officials. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who is pursuing separate litigation, argued that child protection measures should be permanent.
“Child protection is not a short-term, temporary goal. They violated Florida law, and our law is not temporary, it’s permanent. These changes need to be permanent,” Uthmeier said.
The impact on Meta’s business remains uncertain. While teens contribute less than 1% of its revenue, restrictions could push young users toward rival platforms and affect Meta’s ability to retain them as they become more valuable adult users.
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