US Meta Trial

Nicklas Akers, California Senior Assistant Attorney General, left, and Deputy Attorney General Megan O'Neill exit court after tech giant Meta reached a settlement to end a landmark trial over teen social media addiction in Oakland, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026.

Tags

As featured on

Time limits and a midnight cutoff: Meta’s new rules for kids go further, but critics say not enough

Time limits and a midnight cutoff: Meta’s new rules for kids go further, but critics say not enough

Kids under 18 will soon see a host of changes to their Instagram and Facebook experiences thanks to a historic $18 billion settlement Meta Platforms reached Wednesday with 48 U.S. states. Besides the money, which will be paid out over a decade, Meta has agreed to strengthen its age estimates to keep kids under 13 off its platforms and teens in age-appropriate accounts, enact a hard limit of two hours a day for users under 18, block kids from the apps from midnight to 6 a.m. and hide like counts, among other changes. But critics and children’s advocates cautioned it will not solve its myriad problems overnight.