{"slug": "larry-magid-settlement-makes-meta-platforms-safer-for-teens", "title": "Larry Magid: Settlement makes Meta Platforms safer for teens", "summary": "Meta Platforms reached a proposed settlement with 47 states, the District of Columbia, and three U.S. territories, agreeing to pay $17.1 billion in penalties and implement new safety measures for teen users on Facebook and Instagram, including a default two-hour daily limit, blocked access between midnight and 6 a.m., and restrictions on beauty filters and visible likes. The company also urged TikTok and YouTube to adopt similar changes, citing that teens may migrate to other platforms when restricted.", "body_md": "**Getting your**\n\n[Trinity Audio](//trinityaudio.ai)player ready...On Wednesday, Meta announced that it had reached a proposed settlement with 47 states, the District of Columbia and three U.S. territories over allegations that Instagram and Facebook were harming teenage users with addictive features such as infinite scroll and personalized algorithms designed to keep them online longer. The settlement also puts limits on beauty filters and visible likes that can lead to social comparisons, or what some call “compare and despair.” The company also agreed to pay $17.1 billion in penalties.\n\n**New limits**\n\nUnder the [settlement](https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-secures-transformative-17-billion-settlement-meta), Meta will impose a default two-hour daily limit for teens on Facebook and Instagram that can be turned off only with parental permission, and block access between midnight and 6 a.m. by default. Notifications will be muted during school hours, except for direct messages and safety or security alerts, and teens will receive prompts encouraging breaks. Teens can also choose a non-algorithmic feed and turn off autoplay, with parents able to require those settings. Like counts will be hidden by default, and cosmetic-surgery and extreme-makeup filters will be blocked.\n\nMeta is also strengthening its parental controls, encouraging parents to use its supervision tools and giving them more information about their teens’ activity. Parents can be notified if a teen links a secondary account, interacts with a potentially suspicious account or tries to change protective settings, and they can receive periodic updates about their teen’s use of the platforms.\n\nAlthough they don’t address every possible harm, these changes do go a long way toward making Meta’s platforms, including Instagram, which is very popular among youth, safer for teenage users.\n\n**Meta urges other platforms to follow suit **\n\nIn an [open letter](https://about.fb.com/news/2026/08/open-letter-to-tiktok-and-youtube-to-join-us-in-supporting-teens/) to TikTok and YouTube, Meta is encouraging companies to adopt similar changes, arguing that “when teens are restricted on one app, they simply move to another.” There is evidence this can happen not only with other major services but with smaller ones as well, which are less likely to adopt such measures. As Australia’s under-16 restrictions took effect, some teens migrated to lesser-known and possibly less safe platforms.\n\n**Social media wasn’t always so problematic**\n\nAs I mentioned in my [column](https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/08/20/larry-magid-meta-on-trial-make-social-media-safer-wihttps://www.mercurynews.com/2026/08/20/larry-magid-meta-on-trial-make-social-media-safer-without-losing-its-benefits/https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/08/20/larry-magid-meta-on-trial-make-social-media-safer-without-losing-its-benefits/thout-losing-its-benefits/) last week, I’ve advised Meta on safety issues since 2005 when the company became an early supporter of my nonprofit, ConnectSafely. Meta does not currently donate to the organization but does compensate ConnectSafely for participation on safety advisory boards as well as for content development.\n\nWhen we started working with Facebook in 2005, it was truly a social network, connecting users mostly with friends, family and people with shared interests. It did not yet have algorithmically ranked feeds and recommendation systems designed to maximize engagement, nor today’s influencer culture and parasocial relationships. There was some misinformation, but no generative AI to create it at scale, and no algorithms to amplify incendiary content. Cyberbullying, and other abusive behavior existed then and remain today, despite efforts by companies to police user behavior.\n\n**Won’t fix all problems**\n\nThis settlement won’t eliminate all these potential harms. So long as platforms allow humans to interact with one another, there will be unintended consequences, including people being rude or abusive, sometimes even to their friends, along with bad actors who use these platforms to harm, exploit or scam others. Bullying, sexual exploitation, financial crimes and other abuses existed long before social media and will continue to plague us wherever people interact, including at school, at work and even in places of worship.\n\nBut even when they’re not directly at fault, social media companies must do all they can to minimize harm, just as communities have a responsibility to protect their citizens and enforce laws against those who harm others.\n\n**Protect teens, don’t take away their rights\n**\n\nThe settlement probably won’t dissuade some critics from demanding that social media companies ban teens under 16, as Australia has enacted into law, and there will be lawmakers who continue to push for mandatory parental controls. But before turning to such measures, we must remember that social media is a place where people, including teens, exercise their right to free speech, and efforts to restrict that speech must be consistent with the First Amendment, which protects minors as well as adults, though not always to the same extent. I’m glad Meta stated that it “will encourage parents to set up our supervision tools and give them new controls and insights,” but we must also respect teens’ privacy and agency. Not every teen has a safe or supportive relationship with their parents, including those living in abusive families or who may be at odds with their parents over sexual orientation, religion or political views. Parents who do use supervision tools should revisit them periodically as their teens mature, as ConnectSafely advises in its Family Guide to Parental Controls.\n\nAlthough this settlement reduces some of the more egregious risks, it does not eliminate the need for parental involvement in their teens’ online lives, any more than seat belts and airbags eliminate the need for parents to make sure their newly licensed teens drive safely. Parents still need to remind teens to avoid sharing personal information, treat others with respect and conduct themselves online as they would in public, aware that what they post can affect their reputation and future prospects. There still will be scammers, extortionists, extremists and others who try to take advantage of teens and adults. And even without so-called beauty features, we’re all susceptible to feeling inadequate when we see others seemingly having more success or fun than we are. And like all agreements, its only meaningful if follow through.\n\nAs I’ve said many times, keeping people safer online takes a village, including parents, government, industry, schools and young people themselves. I’m glad these attorneys general did their job by pressuring Meta to change its practices, and I’m pleased that Meta responded with meaningful changes.\n\n*Larry Magid is a tech journalist and internet safety activist. Contact him at larry@larrymagid.com.*", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/larry-magid-settlement-makes-meta-platforms-safer-for-teens", "canonical_source": "https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/08/26/larry-magid-settlement-makes-meta-platforms-safer-for-teens/", "published_at": "2026-08-26 19:23:09+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-26 19:45:12.959821+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy", "ai-ethics"], "entities": ["Meta Platforms", "Instagram", "Facebook", "TikTok", "YouTube", "ConnectSafely", "Larry Magid"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/larry-magid-settlement-makes-meta-platforms-safer-for-teens", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/larry-magid-settlement-makes-meta-platforms-safer-for-teens.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/larry-magid-settlement-makes-meta-platforms-safer-for-teens.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/larry-magid-settlement-makes-meta-platforms-safer-for-teens.jsonld"}}