){kind=logo}
As has been widely reported, Meta entered into a $17.1 billion settlement agreement with 48 state attorneys general in the bell weather "social media addiction” case. While the media has focused on the eye-popping settlement amount, for children’s privacy attorneys, the most interesting part of the settlement focuses on the changes that Meta has agreed to make to its social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram. These changes include the following:
Adopting an age assurance framework: Meta must adopt an age assurance framework to identify users under 18 and 13 years of age. The framework must be tested annually by a third party.
Time limits: Meta must adopt time limits for users under 18, including the following:
two-hour daily use limitations
not allowing access to the platform between midnight and 6:00 am
not sending push notifications between 10:00 pm and 7:00 am.
These limitations will last for five years. If additional social media companies join the settlement, the limitations will be further restricted and the time period will be extended to last for 10 years.
Limitations on notifications during school hours: Meta must disable push notifications during school hours unless they pertain to messaging, account security, or platform integrity.
Productivity pauses: Meta will pause content and send mindfulness reminders to users under 18 after 60 and 90 minutes of cumulative use every day, and send reminders during any session of continuous use that lasts longer than 15 minutes.
Feed options: Meta will give minors the option for a non-personalized feed.
Secondary accounts: Meta will identify suspected secondary accounts of minors to stop minor users from bypassing time limitations.
Social comparison: For users under 18, social comparison features such as like counts and cosmetic procedure filters must be disabled by default.
Limiting exposure to inappropriate content and help prevent bullying
Reduce and avoid exposure to harmful experiences and people
Parental supervision tools
These changes are so extraordinary that Meta is only agreeing to pay over $12 billion of the settlement over 10 years. The additional $5 billion will only be paid if the states are able to convince Meta’s competitors to also agree to the settlement and make similar changes to their platforms. Withholding almost a third of the settlement gives the state attorneys general a huge incentive to settle with Meta’s competitors and ensure that Meta is not left at a competitive disadvantage.
Online service providers should remain vigilant to see if other social media companies join the settlement or start to implement these safeguards outside the settlement. If companies start to implement these safeguards, it may become a voluntary industry standard required by all online services, not just social media platforms.
