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With time limits and stronger age checks, Meta's new rules for kids go further. Critics say it's not enough

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.

“Anxious Generation” Author Jonathan Haidt on the Meta Settlement

27 August 2026 at 17:42
In “The Anxious Generation,” he laid out the evils of social media for kids. The landmark Meta settlement seems to agree.

© Lila Barth for The New York Times

Jonathan Haidt’s 2024 book on the harms to children from social media was a best seller.

$17B Meta settlement puts focus on youth mental health crisis, Colorado AG says

Meta agreed to pay up to $17 billion in a settlement, putting to rest a trial where dozens of states accused it of deliberately endangering children through their platforms. The company behind Facebook and Instagram agreed to implement digital guardrails for minors and is asking other social platforms to do the same. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser.

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