"SNS Limited to Two Hours a Day" - Meta to Impose Significant Restrictions on Teens Using Facebook and Instagram, Raising Concerns About Age Verification

Opening a smartphone and starting to browse Instagram reels, only to realize that one or two hours have passed—such experiences are not uncommon for both adults and teenagers.

However, in the United States, a significant change is about to occur in how social media is used.

Meta, the operator of Facebook and Instagram, plans to limit the combined usage time for users under 18 to two hours per day, in addition to implementing restrictions on late-night usage, stopping notifications during school hours, and strengthening age verification. These are unprecedented large-scale measures to protect young users.

The backdrop to this is a major settlement with various U.S. states that have raised concerns about the safety of social media for children and teenagers.

The settlement amount could reach up to approximately $18 billion, making it one of the historical cases involving technology companies, even just by looking at the figures.

However, what truly deserves attention this time is not the amount.

It's the fact that a strong brake is being applied to the very growth model of social media, which aims to keep users engaged as long as possible, from the perspective of children's safety.

"Two Hours a Day" for Both Facebook and Instagram

The most straightforward reform is the usage time limit for those under 18.

According to Meta, a daily usage limit of two hours for both Facebook and Instagram combined will be applied as a default setting for teenage users.

The important point is that users cannot use two hours on Instagram and another two hours on Facebook.

The usage time for both services will be combined, with a total of two hours as the standard.

Moreover, if Meta identifies multiple accounts used by the same individual, those will also be included in the total time.

Teen users will not be able to easily remove the restriction themselves; parental permission will be required to do so.

Until now, social media companies have introduced notifications such as "You have been using this for a long time" or "Would you like to take a break?"

However, in many cases, users could continue using the service simply by closing the notification.

This new system takes a step further by shifting from "Please be careful" to "The service will restrict excessive use from the start."

Additionally, if a user continuously uses the service for 15 minutes, a message prompting a break will be displayed.

Notifications will also be sent when daily usage reaches 60 minutes and 90 minutes.

The design aims to make users aware of how long they have been viewing social media.

"Digital Curfew" from Midnight to 6 AM

It's not just about usage time.

For teenage accounts, a "digital curfew" will effectively be in place from midnight to 6 AM, restricting access to major features of Facebook and Instagram.

The aim is to curb behaviors like continuously viewing feeds, stories, reels, and discovery features throughout the night.

Sleep deprivation has long been a major issue concerning teenagers and social media.

Watching videos until just before sleeping or checking notifications received at night can potentially reduce the necessary sleep time.

This measure does not merely call on users to "not stay up late," but rather creates a state where the service is difficult to use.

This is significantly different from conventional voluntary screen time management.

Notifications Generally Stopped During School Hours

It also affects school life.

From 8 AM to 3 PM on weekdays, "School Mode" will be in effect, generally stopping push notifications to teenage accounts.

Getting a "like" during class, someone updating their story, or a new recommended video—

Such notifications arriving one after another on a smartphone can strongly prompt opening the app.

By stopping notifications, the aim is to reduce the number of times attention is drawn back to social media.

However, it does not completely cut off communication with family and friends.

Direct messages and important notifications regarding account security are exceptions.

Therefore, this measure is closer to weakening the mechanism that attracts users' attention during school hours rather than a "smartphone ban."

"Like" Numbers Also Less Visible

The reforms extend beyond just usage time.

For teenage users, the display of "likes" and reaction counts on posts will be hidden by default.

On social media, numerical comparisons such as how many reactions a post received or whether it is rated higher or lower compared to friends' posts are common.

Especially for teenagers, these numbers have been pointed out as potentially affecting self-esteem and relationships.

Therefore, Meta is changing the design to make it less likely for young users to get caught up in numerical comparisons with others.

Restrictions will also be strengthened on beauty filters that drastically alter appearance.

Additionally, mechanisms to protect teenagers from content related to bullying, eating disorders, suicide, and self-harm will be expanded.

Meta will develop its previously introduced "Teen Accounts" into a more robust safety setting.

How Will They Determine Who Is a "Teen"?

This raises the biggest question.

If usage time and late-night access are restricted only for those under 18, Meta must determine the actual age of its users.

However, age verification on the internet is not easy.

With a self-reporting system where entering "born in 2000" on the registration screen can result in a 15-year-old being treated as an adult, it is easy to bypass.

Meta is advancing the use of AI-based age estimation technology.

For example, it analyzes multiple clues from posts about birthdays, text indicating school grades, comments, profile descriptions, photos, and videos to estimate whether there is a significant difference between the reported age and the actual age group.

Meta explains that this image analysis is different from facial recognition that identifies specific individuals.

Instead of identifying individuals from their faces, it uses general visual features in photos and videos as one signal for age estimation.

Accounts estimated to be under 13 may be subject to suspension or procedures to prove age.

According to Reuters, the settlement does not require all users to submit photo IDs or video selfies uniformly.

However, the stricter the age verification, the more unavoidable the privacy issue of "how much to investigate about users."

This is precisely the part that is most debated on social media.

Concerns About "Data Collection" Over "Child Protection" on Social Media

In response to this news, various opinions have been posted on public communities like Reddit.

Particularly noticeable are opinions wary of age verification leading to new personal information collection.

In technology-related communities, voices have been posted expressing concerns that "under the guise of verifying age, more information will be collected about not only children but also adults."

There is also strong caution against handing over information that cannot be easily changed once leaked, such as ID cards or biometric data, to online companies.

There is concern that "age verification for safety measures" might ultimately weaken online anonymity.

However, since the current system does not mandate biometric authentication or ID submission for all users, caution is needed against views on social media that suggest "everyone will have to submit an ID."

The actual system indicates a direction of combining multiple methods, such as AI estimation and usage patterns.

Nonetheless, the contradiction remains: "To protect children, you need to know their age. But to know their age, you need more information about the users."

Responses Like "Just Delete Instagram"

On Reddit, there are rather indifferent reactions to this news, such as "It's time to delete Instagram" or "Just don't use Facebook or Instagram."

This is thought to stem from a distrust of social media companies themselves.

Facebook and Instagram have grown over the years by having users spend more time on the service and view more content.

In an ad-based business model, the longer the usage time, the more opportunities there are to display ads.

Some users feel a contradiction in the fact that these companies are now introducing mechanisms to "reduce usage time."

Of course, this measure was not entirely initiated by Meta voluntarily.

Lawsuits and regulatory pressures from various states are significant backdrops.

This is why there is a critical view online that "it could have been implemented sooner."

"Are Teens Even Using Facebook?"

Reactions from another angle are also interesting.

On Reddit, there are joking posts questioning "Are today's teens even using Facebook that much?"

Indeed, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube have a significant presence in young people's social media use, and Facebook no longer has the image of being "the social media for young people" as it once did.

However, this restriction also includes Instagram.

Therefore, it is not appropriate to judge that "there is no impact on young people" by only looking at Facebook's usage time.

For teenagers using Instagram for reels, direct messages, and communication with school and friends, this could be a very close-to-home change.

"Won't They Just Switch to Another App?"

And there is a major question when considering the effectiveness of this regulation.

What happens if teens, limited to two hours on Facebook and Instagram, start using other services like TikTok, YouTube, or Snapchat afterward?

The overall smartphone usage time might not change after all.

On social media, there are opinions suggesting that "if only one company limits usage time, users will just move to another service."

Meta itself is aware of this issue.

The company calls on TikTok and YouTube to participate in similar safety standards, noting that teens use multiple apps daily.

Part of the settlement funds are contingent on TikTok and YouTube implementing similar usage restrictions and age verification measures.

In other words, Meta aims not to strictly regulate only Facebook and Instagram but to make it an "industry standard" involving competing services.

Whether this can be realized will significantly change the meaning of this reform.

Opinions That It's the Parents' Responsibility, Not the Companies

Additionally, on social media, there are opinions that managing children's social media use should be the responsibility of parents, not companies or the government.

Smartphones already have usage time limits and parental control features.

The idea is that since it can be managed at home, there is no need to increase regulations that affect all users.

In response, there is a counterargument that since social media services themselves are designed to lead to prolonged use through notifications, infinite scrolling, autoplay, and recommendation algorithms, it is not appropriate to place the responsibility solely on families.

This conflict is not limited to the current Meta issue.

How to divide the responsibilities among "user self-responsibility," "parental responsibility," "platform company responsibility," and "government regulation" is likely to become an important theme in future social media policies.

Critics Say It's Still Inadequate

On the other hand, among experts and stakeholders who have been demanding child safety measures, there is a view that this settlement does not solve everything.

Even if usage time and notifications are limited, the fundamental problem remains if the algorithms that analyze user interests and recommend content one after another are left unchanged.

Additionally, since parents can remove restrictions, the strength of safety measures may vary depending on the home environment.

Errors in age judgment are also unavoidable.

Cases where adults are judged as teenagers, or vice versa, where minors are treated as adults, can occur.

In other words, this regulation is closer to the start of a large-scale social experiment rather than a "finished form" that solves the social media issues for young people all at once.

It's Not Just a U.S. Issue

At present, the main measures resulting from this settlement are centered on participating states and regions in the U.S.

However, globally, the movement to regulate minors' social media use is clearly expanding.

South Korean authorities have expressed the view that Meta's youth protection measures for the U.S. should be applied globally.

In Australia, restricting young people's social media use is a policy issue.

In the UK and EU, discussions continue regarding child protection and age verification in online services.

Considering these trends, there is a sufficient possibility that the system introduced