Meta has agreed to a settlement with US states in a social media case over claims that Facebook and Instagram harmed children. As part of the deal, Meta will pay billions of dollars and introduce a host of new safety measures for young users. On its part, Meta denied any wrongdoings, which was expected anyway.
Meta agrees to major settlement in social media child safety case
The tech giant, if approved, will pay $18 billion, as per the court documents. As a part of the settlement, the company will introduce certain restrictions for teen users. These include daily limits and more. The company will introduce a “night mode” that blocks notifications between midnight and 6 AM by default. Only parents or guardians can turn them off.
Other measures include a default two-hour daily time limit across Instagram and Facebook, hidden likes on teen profiles and accounts they interact with. There’s a “school mode” that mutes notifications from 8 AM to 3 PM on school days. It’ll push prompts after 15 minutes of continuous use and notifications at 60 and 90 minutes of cumulative use. The company will offer an option to use a non-algorithmic feed.
There will also be an ability to disable video and content autoplay, and restrictions on extreme makeup filters.
New safety measures
Meta also agreed to introduce an enhanced system for teens to report harmful content. It pledged to respond to 90% of such reports within six hours. As for the new daily time limit for teen users, Meta says it will reduce to one hour per day if other social media platforms, including TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube, also agree to introduce similar restrictions for young users.
Meta also said that TikTok and YouTube should implement the same safety features for their younger users. The company’s chief legal officer CJ Mahoney said the company’s new Time Limit commitments, Night Mode features and usage limits during school hours “set the right path forward for the entire industry,” but the framework will only work if other companies also adopt it.
Night mode features and usage limits
The agreement follows a two-year investigation and a lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and other attorneys general in 2023. They accused Meta of using manipulative features to encourage excessive use among young users and collecting children’s personal data without parental consent. The case went to trial this month before both sides reached a settlement.
The agreement includes a payment of ~$18 billion. This can be used to fund youth online safety initiatives and other state priorities. It’ll payment 70% of that ($12.7 billion) to states in annual installments over a 10-year period. The remaining 30% ($5.3 billion) depends on YouTube and TikTok implementing safety measures.
Both platforms must introduce a one-hour daily limit, Night Mode and age assurance measures, and match the remaining payment.
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