Advocates for children tell WIRED that Meta’s legal settlement to address concerns about teenagers’ use of social media proposes important and overdue feature changes that invite more parental oversight than ever before. However, they also say it puts a significant burden on caregivers and unreliable age-assessment systems.

The settlement includes a payout of up to $16.7 billion overall to states and significant changes to the way Instagram and Facebook work for teen users. US district judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers approved the settlement on Wednesday, with the hope that it will limit teenagers’ use of social media during critical hours.

Very few of the new measures restrict specific content adolescents can see, with the exception of blocking exposure to extreme makeover filters. But there are several new limits on when young users can scroll their feeds. Access will be blocked overnight and limited to two hours during the day, unless parents allow more. Notifications will also be muted by default from 8 am to 3 pm during the US school year.

Despite these changes, experts doubt their effectiveness. Child safety advocates and mental health experts question whether age-verification measures can truly protect teens online. Digital rights activists are concerned that such measures could 'enshrine Meta's harmful surveillance into law,' according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.