See list: Facebook and Instagram’s new limits on kids under settlement: Daily caps, no nights, forced pauses

Meta’s proposed settlement with multiple states over allegations that the social media giant collected data from children under 13, put young users at risk, and lied to families about the risks of its popular platform would result in the company writing one of the largest checks in the history of consumer protection. 

However, the changes Meta agreed to make with its Facebook and Instagram platforms will likely make a much larger impact on the day-to-day lives of its millions of users, particularly its youngest ones.

Big picture view:

The settlement calls for Meta to make major changes that would limit when children could use its social media services, give parents more control over their kids’ accounts, and implement more safety protocols. The Washington State Attorney General’s Office detailed the measures in a statement announcing the proposed agreement.

"These are groundbreaking changes to Instagram and Facebook, more significant and comprehensive than any changes previously ordered by any court," the Attorney General’s Office wrote in its statement. "Perhaps most importantly, this settlement represents a down payment toward an industry-wide social media experience that allows kids to connect in a healthy way."

Facebook & Instagram changes

• Daily time limits: New daily time limits would be placed on the platforms for the next five years and potentially even longer.Affected users would be limited to using Facebook and Instagram for a total of two hours per day.If Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube implement similar steps, the allotted daily cap would be cut in half, to a single hour, and the required length of time for the caps to be in place would be doubled, to 10 years.
• Affected users would be limited to using Facebook and Instagram for a total of two hours per day.
• If Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube implement similar steps, the allotted daily cap would be cut in half, to a single hour, and the required length of time for the caps to be in place would be doubled, to 10 years.
• "Productivity Pauses": For the next five years, mandatory pauses would occur after 15 minutes of continuous use. Two more pauses would occur at the 60-minute and 90-minute marks.
• Cutting out comparisons: Meta will limit the features for children that can be used for comparing themselves with their peers. The restrictions will include some beauty filters and visible "like" counts, which the Attorney General’s Office noted have been linked to poor mental health outcomes in kids and teens.
• No nighttime access: Children’s access would be limited between the hours of 12 a.m. and 6 a.m.
• Push notification blackouts: Children would not receive push notifications on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.
• Age verification: Meta will enhance its ability to effectively verify the ages of young users.
• Content controls: Meta will implement more content controls to ensure that users are seeing age-appropriate content. Additionally, guardrails will be strengthened to protect them from bullying and to ensure they do not see content related to eating disorders or suicide and self-harm.
• Better parental controls: Parents will gain additional control over their children’s accounts and features will be more user-friendly.

The safety measures included in the settlement would be regularly assessed by an independent auditor and the states to ensure Meta is complying with them.

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The backstory:

The settlement, which was revealed on Wednesday, will end legal actions taken by 46 states, Washington, D.C., and three U.S. territories, all of which accused Meta of designing Facebook and Instagram to get kids addicted to its platforms and that it knew what it was doing was causing children serious mental harm. 

They also alleged that the company collected data on preteen children without their parents’ permission and lied to the public about how safe the platforms were.

In addition to making those required changes, Meta agreed to pay over $16.8 billion to settle the case. Had the company lost the trial, it could have been forced to pay as much as $1.4 trillion. 

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, whose state was not involved in the settlement, criticized the agreement, describing the amount Meta would pay as "peanuts" and promising to see the company in court.

 

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