08/28/2026
Saw this posted on the Clay County News and then saw what Officer Gomez had to say!
Officer Gomez is not impressed! META AGREES TO “CLEAN UP” SOCIAL MEDIA FOR KIDS…
But parents, here’s the part I don’t want you to miss: A LOT OF THIS YOU CAN ALREADY DO.
Meta has agreed to new protections for teens on Facebook and Instagram, including:
- 2-hour daily limit
Parents can already set app limits using Apple Screen Time, Google Family Link, and other parental-control apps.
- School Mode / fewer notifications during school
You can already restrict apps and notifications during school hours.
- Midnight to 6 a.m. lockout
You can already make your child's phone essentially a brick during bedtime hours.
- Autoplay controls
Already available in settings, although making these protections harder for kids to change is an improvement.
- Restrictions on extreme beauty filters
Fine. But defining what counts as “extreme” is going to be interesting.
- Hidden like counts and other protections
Some of these changes are useful, and making protections the DEFAULT instead of relying on parents to find them is a positive step.
Meta also agreed to pay up to roughly $18 BILLION over 10 years as part of the settlement.
We keep waiting for technology companies to parent our kids for us.
Most parents already have the ability to limit screen time, shut phones down overnight, restrict apps during school, control content, and monitor what their children are doing.
The tools have been sitting there. We have to use them.
I'm glad Meta is being pushed to do more.
But don't wait for Meta.
Don't wait for Apple.
Don't wait for Google.
Don't wait for the government.
Parent the phone. Parent the apps. Parent the kid.
Happy Parenting,
Officer Gomez