NY AG Settlement Forces Meta to Cap Minors' Screen Time, Add Feed Opt-Out

What changed

New York's Attorney General secured a settlement requiring Meta to verify user ages, cap minors' platform time at two hours daily, block nighttime access, halt notifications during school hours and evenings, and let minors and parents opt out of algorithmic feeds.

Who this touches

Social media platforms serving minors, and state attorneys general enforcing online-safety obligations against addictive design.

Why it matters

The settlement sets specific, mechanical requirements for age verification and feed controls, and could tighten further if other platforms named in related litigation reach similar terms.

Suggested next step — and why

Platforms with minor users may want their own advisers to compare these mechanisms against current product design, given the parallel TikTok litigation cited in the settlement.

The clock

No compliance date is stated in the settlement; the ongoing TikTok lawsuit is the next signal to watch for whether these terms expand.

The editor's read

The settlement is the guidance document here: a regulator naming exactly which product features it considers addictive, and signaling it will look for the same features in the TikTok case it is already litigating. — IDV