6 days ago
Meta Agrees to New Teen Safety Restrictions on Facebook, Instagram
Meta runs Facebook and Instagram, and it has agreed to add stronger safety rules for teenagers.
These rules still need court approval.
New teen accounts would start with safer settings automatically.
Parents would be able to see more information about how their children use the apps.
They could receive alerts when teens first message adult accounts or search for certain harmful topics.
Teenagers would normally be limited to two hours of use each day.
Night mode and school mode would restrict some use during sleeping and school hours.
Likes and filters that imitate cosmetic procedures would also be limited to reduce social pressure.
Meta has agreed to make several teen-safety tools automatic on Facebook and Instagram, pending court approval.
Teen accounts will have default safety settings, including personalized-feed and like-count restrictions that parents can change.
Parents will receive more information about app use, contacts, adult messages, and searches involving self-harm-related terms.
Teen accounts will face a default two-hour daily usage limit, plus night and school modes restricting use at certain times.
Meta will use identification-based verification or facial recognition, while like counts and cosmetic-procedure filters will be restricted by default.
- Who
- Meta Platforms, Inc., along with the states involved in the child-safety litigation.
- What
- Meta agreed to new default safety settings, parental controls, usage limits, and age-verification measures for teenagers on Facebook and Instagram.
- Where
- The settlement stems from a child-safety trial in California involving 29 U.S. states; Texas reportedly agreed to a separate $1 billion payment.
- When
- The changes are part of a settlement awaiting court approval; the articles do not give an implementation date.
- Why
- The measures are intended to increase protections for young users and address concerns about addictive and harmful social-media features.
Key facts
- Settlement value
- Meta may pay up to $17 billion to the states that filed suit.
- Texas payment
- Meta reportedly agreed to pay Texas $1 billion, although Texas was not among the 29 states that brought the lawsuit.
- Default usage limit
- Teen accounts would be limited to two hours of app use per day; parents could modify the setting.
- Restricted hours
- Night mode would restrict use and notifications from midnight to 6 a.m.; school mode would do so from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays.
- Parental visibility
- Supervising parents could see time spent, social connections, and accounts messaging their teen.
- Safety notifications
- Parents could be notified when a teen first messages an adult account or searches for terms linked to suicide, self-harm, or eating disorders.
- Age verification
- Meta would use identification-based verification or facial recognition, with annual independent testing of the system.
Sources
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