Social media giant Meta has agreed to a settlement of a trial after dozens of US states took the company to court over accusations that the company deliberately set out to make its platforms as addictive as possible, leading to the direct harm of children and teenagers.
Although the company has denied any wrongdoing, it has settled the case and agreed to pay up to US$18 billion to the 28 states involved in the litigation.
“Today, we have secured a settlement with Meta that will make social media less dangerous for our kids and make a world of difference for children and their families,” Rob Bonta, California’s attorney and lead lawyer on behalf of the complainants, said in a statement.
“Meta has agreed to make massive transformations that will reduce the risk of harm from its platforms – and will do it within months.”
Under the terms of the settlement, Meta has also committed to making a raft of changes to both Facebook and Instagram.
Safety limitations for accounts created by teens will now be turned on by default, and they will only see a personalised feed if enabled by a parent. Adults designated as a “supervising parent” will also be able to monitor teen accounts and change any settings, if both the parent and child agree to the controls.
The company will also introduce time limits by default, as well as school and night modes to restrict usage of the platforms. Social comparison features, such as likes, will be limited, while age-verification features will be implemented and regularly tested.
In addition, Meta has also called upon TikTok and YouTube to implement similar features.
“We want to ensure teens benefit from this new industry standard, but we cannot do it alone. These protections will only be truly effective if we work with our peers – TikTok and YouTube – to put the same measures in place,” Meta said in an open letter published soon after the settlement.
“All platforms should empower parents and support teens in these ways because we know that when teens are restricted on one app, they simply move to another. For meaningful progress to happen, we urge our peers to join us.”
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