Meta will implement new restrictions for the teenagers that use Facebook and Instagram: the applications will remain locked overnight by default and will have a daily limit of use of two hours.
The measures are part of the agreement reached by the company with United States attorneys general to end historic litigation over the impact of its platforms on children and adolescents.
The agreement also contemplates that the Notifications remain disabled during school hoursthat teenagers receive warnings every 15 minutes of continuous use and that parents have new tools to monitor How your children use apps.
Meta announced the measures this Wednesday in a open letter also addressed to TikTok and YouTube. The company maintained that the goal is to establish a new standard for the entire industry and asked its main competitors to adopt similar protections.
“We want to make sure that teens benefit from this new industry standard, but we can’t do it alone“, the company stated. According to Meta, the measures will only be truly effective if TikTok and YouTube implement similar restrictions.
Two hours per day and night lock
One of the main novelties will be the incorporation of a daily limit of two hours of use for teens on Meta apps. The restriction will be added to the night lockwhich will be activated default.
The company will also remove notifications during school hours and send teenagers “clear prompts” every 15 minutes of continuous screen time. Added to this will be new supervisory controls so that parents can decide how their children use Facebook and Instagram.
The measures are aimed at teenage users and are part of the agreement reached with a bipartisan coalition of US attorneys general. The pact It still must be approved by the judge overseeing the federal case in California.
The litigation initially involved 29 states, which accused Meta of having deliberately designed their platforms to increase the time children and adolescents stay connectedin addition to questioning the measures adopted by the company to protect them.
Meta did not admit to having committed irregularities and continues to deny the accusations and any responsibility. During the process, the company maintained that it had incorporated security tools such as special accounts for teenagers, time limit reminders, parental controls and restrictions on who can contact minors and what content they can view.
The agreement, however, forces Meta to introduce new modifications. In addition to usage limits and night blocking, the company must strengthen age verification systemsimplement age-appropriate content controls, and develop stronger, easier-to-use parental monitoring tools.
Meta wants TikTok and YouTube to do the same
The company of Mark Zuckerberg He did not present the new measures as an exclusive initiative for Facebook and Instagram. In its open letter, Meta directly urged TikTok and YouTube to incorporate them.
“All platforms should empower parents and support teens in these ways”said the company. And he explained the reason: when a teenager encounters restrictions in one application, he can transfer his activity to another.
For this reason, Meta asked its competitors to join the scheme. “We urge you to join us”the company noted when referring to TikTok and YouTube.
The proposal thus aims to ensure that the restrictions are not limited to a single platform. Meta’s proposition is that the benefits for adolescents would be greater if the major video networks and services applied similar measures.
The announcement came a day after the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseriwill testify before the California court. During his testimony, he acknowledged that few adolescents initially used the function “Take a Break”designed to recommend a break after prolonged periods in front of the application.
According to data presented during the trial, only 1.8% of adolescents had voluntarily activated this tool before Meta started incorporating it by default. Lawyers for the states used that data to question the effectiveness of voluntary measures previously adopted.
A trend that is growing in different countries
The new restrictions announced by Meta come amid a international debate increasingly broad on how to limit children and adolescents’ access to social networks.
Spain announced this year that will prohibit access to these platforms to those under 16 years of age. The proposal is part of a broader package of measures to regulate the digital ecosystem and was backed by the European Commission, although with a caveat: any progress will have to comply with community law and cannot impose new obligations on platforms outside that framework.
Other European countries also advanced in this discussion. France and Denmarkfor example, proposed limits of 15 years, while Australia In December 2025, it became the first country to implement a legal ban on social networks for minors under 16 years of age.
In Argentina There is currently no equivalent prohibition for minors. However, the debate began to advance in the legislative and social sphere, with proposals aimed at strengthening the protection of children and adolescents on the Internet.
The Meta agreement is part of this scenario, although with an important difference regarding the age-based access prohibitions: instead of preventing all minors of a certain age from using the platforms, the new rules announced by the company seek restrict when and for how long teens can use them.
The pact also represents a way out for Meta in the face of the federal trial that was taking place in California. The company agreed to introduce the changes and pay up to 16.68 billion dollars to resolve the claims, but without admitting responsibility by the accusations made by the states.
The Attorney General of Virginia, Jay Jonescalled the $353 million settlement for that state one of the largest in the history of state-level consumer protection. “For years, Meta intentionally misled the public about addictive and harmful design features that have wreaked havoc on the mental health of young people,” he said.
Meta, for his part, defended the agreement as a expanding your efforts to protect adolescents. “Ensuring that teenagers have a safe and productive experience on our platforms is an absolute imperative for Meta,” the company said.