Meta has agreed to make sweeping changes to how teens use Instagram and Facebook as part of a child safety settlement reached in 2026 with attorneys general across the United States. The agreement introduces a range of new restrictions and controls that will alter how users aged 13 to 17 interact with both platforms.
One of the most significant changes is a two-hour daily screen time limit applied cumulatively across Instagram and Facebook. The limit will also extend to any alternate accounts Meta detects. Parents can turn the restriction off, and time spent on messages, videos longer than 22 minutes, or app settings will not count toward the cap.
Between midnight and 6AM, teens will be blocked from accessing most features on both apps, including feeds, stories, reels, and the Explore page. Messaging and account settings will remain accessible during those hours. Separately, push notifications will be muted by default during school hours — 8AM to 3PM — except for direct messages and account security alerts.
Within four months of the settlement, Meta must also introduce scrolling prompts every 15 minutes to discourage extended passive browsing, with additional prompts at 60 and 90 minutes. Parents will be able to adjust how frequently these appear.
Other changes include a non-personalized feed option that teens can enable — and parents can set as default — as well as the ability to turn off autoplay so content does not play automatically. The number of likes and reactions on posts will be hidden by default for teen accounts.
On age verification, Meta must either develop or adopt a third-party system to identify users under 13 for removal, or flag those aged 13 to 17 for teen-account protections. New users will receive those protections by default until evaluated. The system will be subject to independent auditing.
The settlement covers users across the US, and its terms suggest parents will hold significant control over how strictly the new rules apply to their children’s accounts.
Source: The Verge