Meta Sets New Limits for Teens on Facebook and Instagram

If you’ve ever told your teenager, “Okay, tama na ‘yang cellphone na ‘yan,” only to check five minutes later and find them still scrolling, you’re not alone.

For many parents, managing a child’s social media use has become one of those modern parenting jobs nobody really prepared us for. In this digital age, we worry about how much time they spend online, what they’re seeing, who they’re talking to, and why bedtime somehow turns into another hour of doom scrolling.

“For meaningful progress to happen, we urge TikTok and YouTube to join us and state attorneys general in adopting this new standard, to ensure teens use social media in a healthy and responsible way,” Meta announced.

Now, Meta is making some significant changes to how teens use Facebook and Instagram—and urging TikTok and YouTube to join them. The social media giant has announced new restrictions and safeguards for users under 18.

But before Filipino parents start checking whether their teen's Instagram will shut down after two hours of use, there's an important distinction to make: These new rules primarily apply to Facebook and Instagram users in participating U.S. states and territories. They are not currently worldwide rules and do not automatically apply to teens in the Philippines.

Still, the development is worth paying attention to because what happens in the U.S. could influence the conversation around children's online safety, including here in the Philippines. Very recently, Malacañang said it was open to considering broader restrictions on digital platforms that pose serious risks to the public, although the government clarified that there is no immediate plan to impose them.

Meta announced the agreement on August 26, 2026, with most provisions intended to remain in place for 10 years.

According to Meta’s agreement with a bipartisan group of 52 attorneys general across U.S. states, territories, and the District of Columbia, the new protections for teens and below are Meta’s New Protections for Teens and Stronger Controls for Parents, which include:

• Time Limit. Teens will have a default two-hour daily limit on Facebook and Instagram combined, which can only be turned off with a parent’s permission. Time spent scrolling on either app counts toward the two-hour total, including time across multiple accounts if Meta determines they belong to the same teen. 

• Night Mode. Facebook and Instagram will be blocked by default between midnight and 6 a.m. During these hours, teens won’t be able to view or post to their Feed, Stories, Explore, or Reels. 

• School Mode. Notifications will be muted by default between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Teens won’t receive push notifications during these hours, except for direct messages and alerts related to account security or safety. 

• Regular Prompts. Teens will receive reminders after every 15 minutes of continuous use on Facebook or Instagram. They’ll also get prompts when their total daily usage reaches 60 and 90 minutes. The idea is to encourage teens to be more mindful about how much time they’re spending on the apps. 

• Algorithmic Feed Control. Teens will have the option to choose a non-algorithmic feed as their default. This means their feed won’t be personalized based on Meta’s recommendations.  

• Autoplay Control.  Teens will be able to turn off autoplay, meaning videos and other content won’t automatically start playing one after another. Parents can also choose to make this setting the default for their teen. 

• Hidden Likes. Teens won’t see the number of likes and reactions on posts by default, whether the posts are their own or belong to other people. 

• Disabling Cosmetic Surgery and Extreme Makeup Filters. Meta already prevents teens from using cosmetic surgery filters. Under the new rules, this protection will be expanded to include extreme makeup filters. 

• Age Assurance. Meta says it is strengthening the technology it uses to identify and remove accounts that may belong to children under 13. It will also improve its ability to identify users between 13 and 17, even when they have entered an adult birthday on their account. The company continues to advocate for legislation requiring app stores to verify users’ ages and obtain parental approval before teens download apps. 

• Age-Appropriate Content Restrictions. Teens will continue to be placed by default in content settings designed for users aged 13 and above. Meta will also continue to prevent teens from following or interacting with accounts it considers inappropriate for their age and says it will continue improving these systems. 

• Protection From Unwanted Contact. Teens will continue to have private-by-default settings on Instagram and Facebook. Meta will also continue restricting potentially suspicious adults from contacting teens and will strengthen measures designed to make it harder for these adults to find, follow, or interact with young users. 

• Reporting and Ongoing Protection From Harmful Content. Teens will continue to have easy ways to report content that makes them uncomfortable or concerned. Meta says it will work to improve its response times and regularly evaluate how often teens encounter potentially harmful experiences. The company will also use research and input from experts to improve its safety measures. 

• Stronger Parental Controls. Meta will encourage parents to use its supervision tools while giving them additional controls and information about their teen’s activity. Parents may be notified if their teen links a secondary account, receive alerts about interactions with potentially suspicious accounts, and get periodic updates about their teen’s usage. Parents may also be informed when their teen tries to change certain protective settings. 

Here's the thing: We don't have to wait for Meta—or any other social media company—to tell us when our kids have had enough screen time. We can start setting those boundaries ourselves. Here are a few places to start:

When can they use social media? When should the phone be put away? Perhaps a family rule that phones stay outside the bedroom at bedtime can help protect sleep—and eliminate the temptation to sneak in “just one more reel.”

And yes, parents should probably follow some of the rules, too. It's difficult to convince a teenager that they need to put their phone away when they're watching us answer emails during mealtimes.

This might be the most important one. A teenager can spend 30 minutes online and encounter something disturbing, while another can spend an hour watching funny videos with friends.

Screen time matters, but what happens during that screen time matters, too.

Instead of always asking, “How long were you on your phone?” or “Did you turn your phone off at bedtime?”—which can sound controlling—perhaps try: 

“What have you been watching online lately?” 

“Is there anything you've seen that bothered you?”

You might get an eye roll. You might get a one-word answer. Or a puzzled look. But keep asking.

Sometimes, getting kids off their phones isn't really about the phone. 

It's about what happens when they put it down. Is there anything else fun to do? Teenagers deserve an offline life that feels just as real and rewarding as their online one. Perhaps it’s a new sport, a new hobby, or maybe even a rare heart-to-heart moment with you.

Did you know you can turn your iPhone into a "dumb phone"?