Meta, which operates two popular social media sites, Facebook and Instagram, has agreed to an $18 billion settlement after 48 states sued Meta, arguing it had caused youth to become addicted to its social media platforms, CBN reports.

In addition to the payment, Meta also agreed to institute several reforms to limit children’s exposure on its sites:

• Limiting the amount of time a child can spend on its social media platforms each day.
• Meta will also restrict a child’s usage at night. Many have expressed concerns that children are scrolling through social media when they should be sleeping.
• Meta has agreed to send out fewer notifications while children are in class.
• It plans to implement more safeguards on content that deals with eating disorders, bullying, self-harm and suicide.

“The head of Instagram testified ahead of court that some of their optional teen protections were only taken up by 1 to 2 percent of teens,” said Haley McNamara of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation commenting on the settlement.

“But now that they have been sued and settled, they are agreeing to enforce things like daily time limits, and they’re rolling this out in the next couple of months,” Haley continued. “That shows us that they have long had the technology and ability to do better to protect kids by default, and they chose to do it.”

By agreeing to the settlement, Meta avoided a jury trial that would expose how its platforms have negatively impacted children and could potentially result in tens of billions in damages.

These policies, if fully enacted and enforced, could have a positive impact on a children’s mental health.

A survey released in early February found that Christian schools which implemented a full cell phone ban during school hours reported significantly better mental health results among their students than those that didn’t.

While 80% of Christian schools reported that their students’ mental health was good or excellent, that number jumped to 98% if they had implemented a full cell phone ban. The study also found that the more restrictive the ban was the better the mental health results.

The survey was conducted by Denver Seminary’s School Counseling Mental Health Initiative and the Association of Christian Schools International.