Fifty-two attorneys general across the United States have reached a formal agreement with Meta, the company behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, to limit the amount of time that minors spend on its platforms. The deal, announced this week, represents the broadest coordinated legal pressure on a single social media company in American history — and its architects say they intend it to become a template for the rest of Silicon Valley. Under the terms of the agreement, Meta has committed to strengthening its default settings for users under 18. Accounts belonging to teenagers will automatically be subject to tighter time limits and reduced exposure to algorithmically recommended content.

The company will also be required to make it harder for minors to bypass those restrictions — a nod to widespread criticism that parental controls on major platforms have long been easy to circumvent. No financial penalty has been disclosed as part of this particular agreement. The deal arrives at a moment when governments on at least three continents are tightening the rules around children's access to social media. Australia passed legislation in late 2024 banning children under 16 from most platforms entirely.

In the European Union, regulators have opened multiple investigations into Meta under the Digital Services Act, specifically examining risks to younger users. The coordinated US action adds significant weight to that global trend, even though it stops short of an outright ban. Whether Meta will honour the spirit of the agreement — rather than simply its letter — is a question that child-safety advocates are already asking loudly.