Mick Tobin, 23, vividly remembers beating himself up as a teen for losing hours of time to social media in one sitting.
He blamed himself for scrolling endlessly. He compared himself to others, felt anxious, and could sense his attention span growing shorter. He blamed himself some more for not knowing how to use social media wisely.
Looking back, Tobin now understands the outsize influence social media companies had in shaping his habits and behavior with what he describes as addictive design features.
“It’s a trillion-dollar company on one side of the screen and a 15-year-old on the other side of the screen,” Tobin said. “It’s not a fair fight.”
That’s why Tobin, co-founder and advocacy director at Young People’s Alliance, welcomes Meta’s new $17 billion settlement with U.S. attorneys general. As part of the agreement, Meta is required to make several significant design changes that should meaningfully affect how teens use Instagram and Facebook.
Notably, Meta will limit daily time spent on Instagram and Facebook to two hours; block access to both platforms overnight and during school hours; give teens the option to create a default non-algorithmic feed; and allow teens to turn off autoplay.
Tobin, who wishes that Meta had admitted guilt in the settlement, believes his teenage years would’ve looked much different if these measures had been in place several years ago: “I probably would have had much more control over my life.”
How will Instagram and Facebook change?
The settlement ends a major lawsuit against Meta filed by dozens of U.S. attorneys general. Meta confirmed to Mashable that the new teen protections will roll out over the next six months.
Meta issued a “call to action” to YouTube and TikTok to adopt what the company describes as a new “industry standard.”
“These protections will only be truly effective if we work with our peers — TikTok and YouTube — to put the same measures in place,” Meta said in the statement.
Meta, which introduced Teen Accounts in 2024, already has certain safety measures to address some safety and well-being concerns but will expand on those.
Here’s what to expect:
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Time Limit: While Teen Account users on Facebook and Instagram already receive a reminder to leave the app after 60 minutes, Meta will introduce a two-hour cumulative limit across Facebook and Instagram. Once teens reach two hours, they will be locked out of both apps. Only a parent enrolled in parental controls can bypass the limit. If a teen doesn’t have parental supervision, there will be no way to request more time.
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Night Mode: Previously, supervising parents could set daily time limits or breaks, including overnight. Night Mode, however, blocks Instagram and Facebook overnight between midnight and 6 a.m. for all teens.
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School Mode: Similar to Night Mode, parents can schedule breaks that silence Meta app notifications during set hours. School Mode will do this by default between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.
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Algorithmic Feed Control: Teen users can currently tap the Instagram logo at the top of their feed and switch to a “following” feed, which is non-algorithmic. Still, the algorithmic feed remains the default each time a teen user opens the app. As a result of the settlement, teens will have the choice to select a chronological feed as their default. Meta will periodically remind them of the option, and guardians using parental controls can opt their child into a default non-algorithmic feed.
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Autoplay Control: Teens will be able to turn off autoplay, a setting that wasn’t available prior to the settlement. Once autoplay is off, teen users will need to deliberately tap or swipe to view content. Parents will also be able to set this as the default for their teen.
Other measures include banning extreme makeup filters and regular screen time reminders during continuous use.
While Tobin doesn’t support time limits for teens because he believes they should decide how long to stay engaged, he does believe the other design changes will help teens avoid becoming glued to their screens in the first place.
Still, Tobin said there’s an important caveat: “This, of course, all hinges on Meta actually implementing these design practices effectively.”
Ensuring the new measures actually work
Past research on some of Meta’s teen safety and well-being features suggests they may not work as well as advertised.
A 2025 report conducted by a Meta whistleblower, for example, found that screen time features and tools to prevent unwanted contact didn’t consistently work as expected. Meta said at the time that the report misstated how its safety tools work and misrepresented its efforts “to empower parents and protect teens.”
Meta’s settlement requires an independent auditor to test and report on Meta’s compliance with the agreement annually for five years. No further details were available about how the auditor will conduct their research.
Kris Perry, executive director of Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development, told Mashable in a statement that independent, ongoing evaluations of the settlement changes are essential.
“Success shouldn’t be measured simply by the presence of a tool but by its impact, such as sustained decreases in teens’ use of platforms overnight or teens reporting less difficulty controlling their own time online, and this requires ongoing, objective research,” Perry said.
Tobin said the settlement is a major turning point for teen well-being. Still, he argues that policymakers must finally put youth online safety measures into law and hold social media companies liable for violating them. After all, he noted, the majority of the settlement terms are only required to remain in effect for 10 years.
“I think the permanency is extremely concerning,” Tobin said, “because this needs to be something that changes forever, right?”
Source: https://mashable.com/tech/instagram-facebook-changes-meta-settlement
