3 Big Questions After Meta’s $18 Billion Teen Safety Settlement

Three significant questions remain unanswered after Meta Platforms Inc. reached a $18 billion settlement with a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general, addressing claims that the company used deceptive tactics to addict teens to its social media platforms. The landmark settlement, which applies to 48 states and the District of Columbia, brings an end to a major federal lawsuit that alleged Meta knowingly jeopardized the mental health and safety of its younger users.

Advocates have expressed cautious optimism about the settlement, as it signifies a crucial victory for those demanding tech companies to take responsibility for the harms they inflict on teenagers. Matthew Bergman, founder of the Social Media Victims Law Center, remarked, "My first thought was vindication." However, Meta's defenders argue that the social media giants were not negligent and that their users assumed the risks themselves.

Key provisions of the settlement include new restrictions on teen usage, requiring limits of two hours per day across both Facebook and Instagram combined, and blocking access to the platforms between midnight and 6 a.m., with an exception for direct messages. The platforms will also refrain from sending push notifications during school hours, and teens will receive alerts every 15 minutes of continuous use, as well as after one hour.

While these new measures may address concerns of excessive engagement, Meta's settlement permits teens the flexibility to circumvent other safety features by opting into non-algorithmic feeds and disabling autoplay.

Despite these changes, doubts remain regarding whether teens will actually adhere to the new limits, particularly since research suggests that people rarely alter default settings, and parents may not grasp the importance of these options. Moreover, Krieger emphasized that Meta's efforts to improve age assurance are lacking, and it must provide concrete steps to verify users' ages and ensure compliance.

The remaining uncertainty revolves around the conditional allocation of the settlement funds, which amount to $12.7 billion over a decade, with the other $5.3 billion contingent upon YouTube and TikTok adopting similar or more stringent restrictions. In a bid to influence these competitors, Meta plans to launch full-page print advertisements in major newspapers, calling for the implementation of these stricter settings as the "new industry standard." However, TikTok and Google (the owner of YouTube) have yet to comment on the proposed changes.