Meta’s $18 Billion Settlement Brings Sweeping Changes to Protect Minors on Instagram and Facebook
Under the terms of its $18 billion settlement to resolve claims brought by 29 U.S. states over children’s safety, Meta on Wednesday agreed to sweeping changes designed to restrict minors’ access to Instagram and Facebook. The changes include a daily time limit, a restrictive “Night Mode,” autoplay controls, and more.
Overview of New Protections for Minors
The social media giant says the new protections will automatically apply to users under 18 on Instagram and Facebook in participating U.S. states and territories, pending judicial approval. The majority of these controls are required to remain in place for 10 years.
Daily Usage Limits and Parental Controls
One of the most notable changes is that Meta plans to implement a daily two-hour time limit for teenagers on its platform. The limit can only be disabled with parental permission, and once the limit is reached, teens will be locked out of Facebook and Instagram.
Meta says the limit will be cumulative across Facebook and Instagram, which means that time spent on both apps will count toward the two-hour total. The limit will also be applied if Meta detects someone is using multiple accounts.
Non-Algorithmic Feed Options
The company also said kids will be able to choose a non-algorithmic feed that isn’t personalized by its recommendation systems as their default. Currently, users have been able to temporarily see a chronological feed on Instagram and Facebook, but can’t set it as their default feed. Now, parents and guardians can set their teenaged kids’ default experience to a non-personalized feed.
Night Mode and Usage Prompts
Meta said it will also introduce a default “Night Mode” block on its apps between midnight and 6 a.m. that would prevent underage users from accessing, posting or viewing any part of its platforms. A Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch that while the company already mutes notifications for teens at night, the new setting will block them altogether after midnight.
Teenagers will also receive prompts after every 15 minutes of continuous usage on Facebook or Instagram. The new prompts will accompany the current prompts that teens see when their total daily usage hits 60 minutes.
Additional Restrictions and Controls
Meta will also block underage users from using extreme makeup filters, a move that expands upon its existing restrictions that prevent them from using cosmetic surgery filters.
Additionally, the company will mute notifications by default during school timings, which it is setting as between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. During those hours, teens won’t receive push notifications, except for DMs and alerts related to account security or safety.
Another new setting will allow parents and teens to turn off autoplay. Meta says they will need to take a “deliberate action,” such as tapping or swiping, to see more content.
Hidden Like Counts and Age Verification
Like and reaction counts on posts will also be hidden for underage users by default, whether the posts are theirs or someone else’s. While teens can already choose to hide like counts, now those counts will be hidden by default.
Meta also said it’s strengthening its technology for identifying users who may be aged 13 to 17, even if they provide an adult birth date, to ensure they receive appropriate protections.
Industry-Wide Call to Action
The social media giant published an open letter asking TikTok and YouTube to join it in setting an industry-wide commitment by also introducing a daily time limit, turning off access to apps at night, restricting notifications during school hours, and 15-minute usage prompts.
Meta’s $18 billion settlement will be distributed to the states over 10 years, but 30% of the settlement, or about $5.3 billion, will only be paid if YouTube and TikTok implement the same limits.
“All platforms should empower parents and support teens by putting the same measures in place, because we know that when teens are restricted on one app, they simply move to another,” the company wrote in a blog post.
Ongoing Efforts to Protect Minors
Meta said it will continue to prevent teens from following or interacting with accounts it considers age-inappropriate. It will also continue to default teens into private accounts and restrict suspicious adults from contacting them.
For further insight into this pivotal industry development, read the full article on TechCrunch here.
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