Fez — Instagram is about to start telling teenagers when they have had enough scrolling for one day.

Meta has agreed to impose a two-hour daily limit across Instagram and Facebook for users under 18 as part of a sweeping settlement with US states over alleged harms to young users.

The agreement also introduces something resembling a mandatory digital bedtime.

Teen accounts will be unable to access Instagram or Facebook between midnight and 6 a.m., while push notifications will stop between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. Meta must also restrict notifications during school hours.

New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the agreement on August 26, saying the restrictions are designed to reduce unhealthy social media use among children and teenagers. The settlement still requires approval from a judge before taking effect. 

Two hours means two hours across both apps

One of the more interesting details is how Meta plans to calculate the limit.

The two-hour allowance applies cumulatively across Facebook and Instagram rather than giving teenagers two hours on each platform. Messaging functions are exempt.

After 60 and 90 minutes of daily use, teens will also receive reminders encouraging them to stop scrolling. Continuous sessions longer than 15 minutes will trigger additional prompts.

Parents can authorize exceptions, but teenagers cannot simply turn the restrictions off themselves.

Meta will also strengthen age verification to identify users who may have entered a false birthday.

Reuters reported that the changes are expected to roll out within one year after the settlement receives court approval. 

The restrictions currently concern participating US jurisdictions, rather than representing a worldwide Instagram policy.

Likes could disappear too

The agreement goes beyond screen time.

Users under 18 will be prevented from seeing likes and other reactions on posts, while teenagers and parents will have the option to switch away from algorithmic recommendations toward chronological feeds from followed accounts.

Meta will also maintain private accounts by default for teenagers and strengthen restrictions on inappropriate content.

The company said most of the agreement will remain in force for 10 years, although the initial time limits and nighttime restrictions carry a five-year commitment. 

Those rules could become even stricter.

If TikTok and YouTube adopt comparable protections, Meta has agreed to reduce the limit to one hour per app and extend its nighttime shutdown from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m.

A fight over teenage attention

The changes are part of a settlement worth up to approximately $18 billion (MAD 166 billion) between Meta and a bipartisan group of state attorneys general.

The states had accused Meta of designing Instagram and Facebook features to keep young people using the platforms for longer while misleading the public about potential harms.

Meta has not admitted wrongdoing.

The company instead argues that protecting teenagers requires common rules across the social media industry and has publicly urged TikTok and YouTube to adopt similar restrictions. 

Critics remain divided over whether time limits and parental controls go far enough, particularly when recommendation algorithms remain central to how teenagers encounter content.

Still, the settlement represents an unusually direct intervention into one of social media’s most ordinary habits.