On Aug. 26, Meta announced a scrolling time limit for teens in response to persistent allegations of intentionally harmful and addictive apps targeted at teens from parents and schools. The limit is set to take effect within the next six months, along with an $18 billion settlement to be shared among U.S. states and territories.
Teen users will have a cumulative two-hour time limit on Instagram and Facebook. Meta will track usage across multiple accounts if they detect a device that manages more than one account. Direct messaging will not be blocked after two hours, only scrolling.
Meta also seeks to eliminate distractions at school and during sleeping hours. The app will automatically activate Night Mode from midnight to 6 a.m. Notifications will be turned off during school days. Extreme makeup filters will be blocked, and teens will be able to choose whether they want a personalized feed.
One of the primary goals is to eliminate any loopholes in the system. Many users, including teens and children, do not list their correct age on their Meta accounts. If teens are not identified as teens, it is impossible to set limits on scrolling. Accurate age identification is one of the biggest obstacles standing in Meta’s way of effective addiction prevention.
The platform plans to look at accounts aged over 18 for context to verify their age; birthday posts and school celebrations identify misrepresented users. Parents also get more control and transparency with what their teen is doing online. They will be able to lock settings that teens may want to change and receive updates on their teens’ usage and attempts to change settings.
“Two hours is definitely enough to prevent addiction, because usually it’s when you’re on it the whole day that then it becomes an issue,” said Kendall Phillips ‘28. The changes are “good in the sense that there is regulation,” said Phillips. The limit would encourage her to do something more productive, like studying or going out.
“As a parent, I’m proud of both the work Meta has done to protect kids historically, and of this new groundbreaking agreement.” C.J. Mahoney, the Chief Legal Officer at Meta, said on Facebook. He called on other platforms like TikTok and YouTube to implement similar addiction-prevention features. “Its success depends on all other social media platforms following Meta’s lead,” Mahoney said.
As of now, the rival platforms face the same scrutiny that Meta faced as parents place pressure on how these apps affect their kids.