Washington kids would face firm limits on how long — and how late — they can use Instagram and Facebook under a settlement announced Wednesday by Washington Attorney General Nick Brown.
The agreement with Meta Platforms would cap children’s combined daily use of the two platforms at two hours and shut off access between midnight and 6 a.m. It would also silence notifications during school hours and require additional parental controls and age checks.
The changes are part of a multi-state settlement resolving allegations that Meta knowingly designed Facebook and Instagram in ways that encouraged compulsive use among young people and failed to adequately protect them from harm. States also alleged that the company improperly collected information from children younger than 13 without parental consent.
The deal still needs court approval.
What would change for kids?
Young users would encounter mandatory breaks after 15 minutes of continuous use on Instagram or Facebook, and again after 60 and 90 minutes. The two-hour combined daily limit and required breaks would remain in place for five years.
On weekdays during the school year, children would not receive push notifications from the platforms between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Teens would also have the option to see posts in reverse chronological order rather than having an algorithm determine what appears in their feeds.
Meta would be required to strengthen its age-verification efforts and parental controls and put additional safeguards around content involving bullying, eating disorders, suicide and self-harm. The agreement also places limits on certain beauty filters, visible “like” counts and other social-comparison features.
Independent auditors and the states involved in the settlement would assess whether Meta implements the required protections and how well they work.
Brown characterized the agreement as a win for young people.
“Let me say to the young people of Washington state: This agreement shows that your health and safety is more important than Meta’s profits,” Brown said.
Brown has spent the past two years advocating for unsuccessful Washington legislation that would have restricted addictive social media feeds for children. His office says the settlement accomplishes some of what that legislation sought and includes protections that go beyond it.
Washington could receive hundreds of millions
The Washington Attorney General’s Office describes the overall agreement as a $17.1 billion settlement and says Washington is guaranteed $237 million. The state’s share could climb to nearly $339 million over the next decade, depending on whether states reach comparable agreements with other social media companies.
Some of Washington’s proceeds will cover legal expenses and continued consumer-protection enforcement. The Attorney General’s Office says money will also support programs addressing mental health impacts associated with young people’s social media use.
The settlement contains another provision that could change how long children spend on individual social media platforms. If Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube agree to comparable terms, the limits would shift to 60 minutes per platform and remain in place for 10 years.
The settlement follows a nationwide investigation launched in 2021. States alleged that Meta designed Instagram features to encourage addictive use among children while the company was documenting mental health harms internally and failed to adequately warn parents.
Forty-eight states ultimately sued Meta, either individually or through consolidated federal litigation.
The agreement also resolves separate claims involving Meta’s sharing of nonpublic information about Facebook users with third parties, including Cambridge Analytica, before the 2016 election. Washington is slated to receive another $10.2 million from that portion of the resolution.
