Brain Science Behind Meta’s Settlement
Meta, the company behind Instagram and Facebook, has agreed to pay up to $18bn (£13.3bn) to settle claims from 48 US states, Washington DC, and three territories, that its platforms harmed children. Pending approval by a California judge, it’s the largest payout of its kind so far. It comes with a pledge to redesign parts of Instagram and Facebook around the developing brains of young users.
At The Reward Foundation we talk a lot about the brain’s reward system, the circuitry that drives motivation, learning, and habit. Social media apps are built to trigger it constantly. It does this through likes, notifications, and endless feeds. This settlement is the clearest sign yet that regulators now accept what brain science has argued for years: these platforms are supernormal stimuli, engineered to keep young users hooked.
What the lawsuit uncovered
The case, filed in 2023 by 29 states, argued Meta knew millions of 11 and 12-year-olds were on its apps and “did little to keep them off.” Internal documents shown at trial included a researcher’s note that “teens have an addict’s narrative about use.” California Attorney General Rob Bonta put it plainly: “The trial did not go well for Meta”. A former Meta researcher also testified that “quiet mode,” which muted night-time notifications for teens, worked far better when switched on by default. Yet adoption stayed low because it wasn’t. He recalled being told not to worry. That was because his team existed partly “to protect the company against the upcoming lawsuits.”
What changes for teens
New defaults on Instagram and Facebook will include a two-hour daily limit combined across both apps (removable only by a parent), a “Night Mode” blocking notifications from midnight to 6am, and a “School Mode” muting notifications 8am-3pm. Teens will see prompts at 15, 60 and 90 minutes of use, like counts will be hidden, autoplay can be switched off, and a non-algorithmic feed will be available. Extreme make-up filters are banned outright. The daily limit could shrink to one hour if TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube adopt similar rules.
Why defaults matter more than options
None of this changes the underlying design. An adolescent’s reward system is more sensitive to novelty and social feedback than an adult’s, and less able to self-regulate. That’s exactly why defaults matter. Most families and classrooms never touch a single setting. This means that whatever a platform switches on automatically becomes what most teenagers actually experience.
What parents and teachers can do now
Check that Night Mode, School Mode and the two-hour limit are switched on for any child’s or student’s account, and resist turning them off “just this once.”
Talk openly with children about why these limits exist — not as punishment, but because their self-control skills are still developing.
Use the settlement as a discussion starter. Ask what pupils notice about their own urge to check likes or keep scrolling.
These defaults are only guaranteed for five years. Meta admits no wrongdoing. Their business model built on capturing attention hasn’t changed.
Washington DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb said, these changes should “fundamentally and immediately change how young people use Instagram and Facebook”. Whether that promise holds depends on all of us. It’s not just the settings we tick, but the conversations we keep having with the young people in our care.
