Meta has reached a landmark settlement imposing sweeping new restrictions on how teens use Facebook and Instagram — and it’s hoping other social media companies will follow suit with similar standards.
After the company and state AGs announced the settlement Wednesday morning, Meta posted an open letter to Snap, TikTok and YouTube urging them to join the effort to “support teens and empower parents” and buy-in to their framework — their most comprehensive ever — monitoring social media use.
Under the terms of the agreement, teens will be limited to two hours daily on Facebook and Instagram, combined, and be blocked from the platforms between midnight and 6 a.m., though messaging will still be available. Notifications will be silenced during school hours, and stronger age-detection systems will be implemented, along with certain default settings that restrict beauty filters and whether or not likes on a post are visible.
“We want to ensure teens benefit from this new industry standard, but we cannot do it alone. These protections will only be truly effective if we work with our peers — TikTok and YouTube — to put the same measures in place,” the open letter from Meta, which is helmed by Mark Zuckerberg, read.
Interestingly, the settlement is structured to create incentives for the 52 state attorneys general to reach similar deals with rival social networks.
If Snap, TikTok and YouTube — all of which are currently facing their own challenges from state AGs — adopt the framework Meta has agreed to, Meta will commit to even more onerous restrictions.
For instance, if Snap, TikTok, and YouTube all sign on and agree to pay their own settlements, Meta will further limit the amount of time a teen can spend on its social networks. Under the current settlement, the limit is two hours daily, but if other companies agree to the framework, it would decrease to just one hour.
Meta also agreed to shell out more settlement money — bumping the amount they’ll pay out from $12 billion to more than $17 billion — if the others sign on.
While it’s counterintuitive, a source with knowledge of the deal explained it this way:“The rationale is that it’s not a comprehensive agreement unless others sign on, and certainly competitors must match at least a portion of payment if Meta is going to pay out fully … it ensures incentive for continued action on this.”
The concern, of course, has been that if Meta is restricted while other platforms are not, teens will simply leave Instagram when their evening limit hits and move to another app.
Meta has argued that merely limiting usage on their platform would not address the underlying problem of teens spending too much time on social media.
Another source told The Post that Snap appears open to joining the pledge but there is no indication that TikTok and YouTube will follow suit anytime soon. Snap, TikTok and Youtube did not respond to a request for comment.
The agreement resolves a multi-state lawsuit filed in 2023 by a bipartisan coalition of state attorney generals that alleged Meta designed addictive features that harmed teens and improperly collected their data
States can decide how to use the money from the settlement, which will be paid out over the next ten years, but they must put it towards something addressing “remediation of harms related to youth social media use.” That could include counseling, wellness campaigns or after school programs. Individuals will not be compensated.
The agreement still needs a judge to sign off, but it is expected to be fully implemented in the next six months
After years of negotiations in a case that threatened to cost the company as much as $200 billion, this is a positive outcome for Meta. If the mild increase in the company’s stock price — which jumped immediately on the news but ended the day just 1% higher is any indication — is any indication the market agrees.
It’s a welcome ending to a lawsuit and negotiations that have stretched on for years.
“Litigation is over,” a source said. “They are putting it to bed.”