Meta settlement would cap Alaska teens at two hours a day on Instagram and Facebook

Alaska teenagers will face a combined two-hour daily limit on Instagram and Facebook, a midnight-to-6 a.m. shutoff, and no push notifications during school hours under a multistate settlement with Meta Platforms, Inc. announced Wednesday. Users under 13 will not be permitted on either platform at all. The deal is subject to court approval, and parents can give explicit permission to switch the time and content limits off.

Acting Alaska Attorney General Cori Mills announced the agreement, which resolves claims by 47 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands. Meta will pay the states at least $12.1 billion, rising to as much as $17.1 billion if other major social media companies reach similar settlements. Alaska will receive around $16 million. The states say the money is intended for youth mental health services and education programs. The states allege that Meta designed Instagram with addictive features, knowingly exposed young users to serious mental harms, and intentionally misled the public about the safety of its platforms.

Meta must build in mandatory pauses after 15 minutes of continuous use and again at 60 and 90 minutes, the first counted per session and the others across the day. Messaging is excepted from the cap. The limits run at least five years. If other major platforms settle on comparable terms, a second phase lasting ten years cuts users under 18 to 60 minutes on each Meta platform, moves the overnight block to 10 p.m. through 7 a.m. and disables push notifications altogether.

Under-18 users will also be able to choose feeds showing only accounts they follow, in chronological order, and parents using Meta's supervision tools can make that the default. Cosmetic filters, including those that change skin tones, are barred for under-18s, as is seeing likes and other reactions. An independent auditor and the settling states will regularly assess whether Meta puts the changes in place and whether they work.

"Social media has become a near-constant part of teenagers' lives, and their mental health has declined as they struggle under constant social comparison," said Assistant Attorney General Helen Mendolia. "This settlement equips parents to limit how Facebook and Instagram disrupt the school day and their kids' sleep."

The settlement follows a bipartisan investigation that began in 2021 and a 2023 lawsuit. It also resolves state claims over Meta's sharing of nonpublic Facebook user information with third parties such as Cambridge Analytica ahead of the 2016 election.

Senate Bill 262, from Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, would bar social media accounts for Alaskans under 16 and ban algorithmic content for those under 18. It cleared the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee on May 1 and has sat in Senate Judiciary since May 4. The Alaska State Board of Education has separately directed the Department of Education and Early Development to develop a model policy limiting cellphone use during class hours, which the state now lacks.