Explainer-Settlement requires Meta to check young users' ages. How will that work?

The $18 billion legal settlement between Meta and U.S. states aims to curb children's use of social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram by requiring the company to implement stricter age checks for users under 18. However, Meta's traditional approach has been to identify young users through contextual clues rather than requesting proof of age.

Under the settlement, Meta must make several changes to verify the ages of younger users, including setting daily usage limits, disabling push notifications at night, and enabling easy reporting of suspected underage accounts. An independent auditor will review Meta's age-checking efforts, and the company will make it easier for users to report suspected underage accounts.

Meta will also need to take extra steps for children under 13, such as searching their friend networks to identify and eliminate underage accounts. The settlement allows Meta to use data generated by identified underage users to train an AI model to detect under-13 users in the future.

The agreement aims to balance the need for stronger age verification measures with the legal challenges posed by laws like the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). While COPPA restricts companies from collecting personal data from children under 13 without parental consent, it does not prohibit the collection of data that could be used to verify a person's age. The settlement attempts to address these legal hurdles while providing better protections for children online.