Meta has agreed to a raft of new safety measures for teenage users of Instagram and Facebook as part of an $18 billion (£14.2 billion) settlement with 29 US states over children's online safety. Pending judicial approval, the restrictions will automatically apply to under-18s in participating states and territories, with most measures required to stay in place for a decade — marking one of the most significant regulatory shake-ups of Meta's approach to young users to date.

The key change is a daily two-hour time limit across both apps combined, which can only be lifted with parental consent; teens will also get a default "Night Mode" blocking access between midnight and 6am, prompts every 15 minutes of continuous use, muted notifications during school hours (8am–3pm), an option for a non-algorithmic default feed, the ability to disable autoplay, and like counts hidden by default. Meta is also barring extreme makeup filters for minors and improving age-detection technology. The settlement money will be paid out over 10 years, though 30% of it (roughly $5.3 billion/£4.2 billion) is contingent on TikTok and YouTube adopting similar measures, which Meta has urged them to do in an open letter.