Meta has agreed to a massive 17 billion dollar settlement to resolve lawsuits brought by 52 U.S. attorneys general who accused the tech giant of intentionally designing Facebook and Instagram to be addictive and harmful to children. While the payout is the largest of its kind, officials emphasize that the real victory lies in the mandatory changes to Meta’s business practices rather than the financial penalty. The funds will be used to support youth online safety initiatives, while the company implements sweeping safeguards intended to protect the mental health of users under 18 over the next decade.

Among the most significant changes is a cumulative two hour daily time limit across both platforms that requires parental permission to override. To further curb late night usage, a new night mode will block access to feeds, stories, and reels between midnight and 6 a.m., although messaging will remain available. Other updates include stronger age verification tools to keep children under 13 off the apps and the removal of public like and reaction counts on posts to reduce social pressure on teens.

Laura Edelson, an assistant professor at Northeastern University specializing in social media safety, believes several of these measures are promising developments. She specifically pointed to the ability for parents and teens to disable autoplay as a key win since removing automatic content delivery helps decrease overall screen time. Additionally, Meta will offer a non algorithmic feed that shows only content from followed accounts, moving away from the recommendation engines that often trap young users in endless loops of suggested videos.

Despite these gains, Edelson warns that some gaps remain. Many of the best protections require manual activation by parents or teens, which she argues is unrealistic given how rarely users dive into complex settings menus. More critically, she noted that infinite scroll remains intact, allowing content to load endlessly until a user stops voluntarily. While Meta suggests that strict daily time limits make infinite scroll redundant, critics argue it remains a primary driver of compulsive behavior.

To ensure accountability, Meta will establish an independent auditor to report compliance back to state governments and create a separate research foundation dedicated to studying teen well-being online. Most of these safeguards are expected to roll out within six months, though more technical hurdles like advanced age assurance may take up to a year to fully implement across both platforms.