NewzMeta Platforms has reached an $18 billion settlement with 48 U.S. states, resulting in new safety mandates for users under 18 on Instagram and Facebook. The agreement, finalized in Oakland, California, requires the company to implement stricter age verification processes to prevent children under 13 from accessing the platforms and to transition teens into age-appropriate accounts. The financial settlement will be distributed over a ten-year period.
As part of the new operational requirements, Meta must enforce a daily two-hour time limit for users under 18 and implement a mandatory usage blackout period between midnight and 6 a.m. Additionally, the company will hide "like" counts for these users. While these measures represent a significant shift in platform policy, critics argue that the implemented changes remain insufficient to fully address concerns regarding child safety online.
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