Meta has been in plenty of hot water as of late.
The company’s smart glasses have gotten a ton of ire as people have pointed to privacy concerns over users secretly filming random passersby and whoever else they please (there’s even a report about teenage boys using them to pester girls at middle and high schools).
Meta then found itself in the middle of a lawsuit that saw 29 states, co-led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the AGs from Colorado, New Jersey and Kentucky, allege that its social media platforms are addictive to children, mislead consumers about those young users’ safety on said platforms and inappropriately gather children's personal data.
That lawsuit has now met its end, as Meta has just agreed to pay a settlement of $17.1 billion — according to a statement made by California AG Rob Bonta. The state of California could receive between $1.5 billion and $2.1 billion if the court authorizes the settlement. As for New York, its attorney general announced that the state will get up to $1.15 billion and likely put it toward kids' education and social services meant to assist youngsters struggling with their social media addiction. Head to this link to see how much each state will receive from this monumental Meta settlement.
With this settlement in place comes a host of changes Meta has been ordered to make to Facebook and Instagram. Here’s what these changes could mean for parents with children who frequently use both platforms and how they could result in a positive outcome for them.
Less addictive and harmful social media spaces for kids of all ages
There’s a wealth of changes Meta must now make according to the measures detailed in the settlement, such as:
- A default daily time limit of two hours for users under 18 years of age that can only be lifted by a parent
- A default nighttime block between midnight and 06:00 for users under 18 years of age that can only be lifted by a parent
- Default blocks on notifications to users under 18 years of age from 22:00 to 07:00 and during the school day
- An enhanced mechanism for teenagers to report potentially harmful content and a requirement that Meta respond to 90% of those reports within six hours
- A ban on displaying numbers of likes or reactions to users under 18 years of age
- A ban on cosmetic procedure image filters for users under 18 years of age
- An option for users under 18 years of age to have a non-personalised feed
- A commitment to enhance parent supervision tools
That settlement also notes that Meta has agreed to the following terms and conditions:
- Institute robust age assurance measures to detect users under 18, as well as measures to identify and remove users under 13 years of age
- Use an independent auditor with expansive access to information and resources
- Be subject to an injunction prohibiting it from making "further false, misleading, or deceptive statements around its safety features"
In a statement that looks to reassure everyone that kids will be more protected across their social media platforms, Meta had this to say: “Ensuring teens have a safe and productive experience on our platforms is an absolute imperative for Meta. We want to get this right for parents and teens.”
With all these newly instituted measures in place, Facebook and Instagram could become far less of an addictive haven for children who want to do nothing but endless scrolling and discover content that could be extremely harmful to their mental well-being. Strict usage time limits, parents getting more control over the type of content their kids see, fewer distracting notifications popping up on kids’ screens and young users having less exposure to detrimental content could go a long way toward making Meta’s platforms more approachable for younger users.
While instituting a two-hour limit for kids using Facebook and Instagram is good, kids may still use that time to expose themselves to harmful content. With parents getting more control over their kids’ social media accounts, here’s hoping their stronger involvement will make children less susceptible to coming across said content.
Bottom line
Meta being forced to take responsibility for the harm its social media platforms have done to children is major. While this development doesn’t automatically make Facebook and Instagram 100% safe for kids from this point forward, it’s a good first step toward companies like Meta recognizing the ill effects their products have had on children.
