5 days ago
Meta Settlement Draws Mixed Reviews Over Teen Mental Health Protections
Several U.S. states reached a settlement with Meta about how its apps affect children and teenagers.
Meta runs Facebook and Instagram.
A former Meta worker, Arturo Bejar, said the deal does not fix the main problems he described.
He said Meta had not properly measured some harms and had failed to handle some reports about child predation.
The settlement will limit some teen use of the apps and add more parental controls.
It will also hide likes and reactions, which may reduce pressure to compare with other people.
A psychologist said daily time limits could help some teenagers.
But she thought few teens would choose a special feed that does not use Meta’s recommendation algorithm.
Former Meta safety engineer Arturo Bejar said the settlement does not meaningfully address harms he described in court.
Meta will pay states up to $18 billion over the next decade and limit some teen use of Facebook and Instagram.
The agreement requires Meta to hide likes and reaction counts on posts for young users.
The settlement also includes parental controls, daily time caps and efforts to detect minors posing as adults.
Experts differed on the deal, with one psychologist calling time limits useful but the non-algorithmic feed likely to be ignored.
- Who
- Meta Platforms, a coalition of U.S. states, former Meta safety engineer Arturo Bejar, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and youth mental-health experts.
- What
- The states and Meta reached a settlement involving financial payments and measures intended to limit or change teenagers’ use of Facebook and Instagram.
- Where
- The case involved a coalition of U.S. states and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram platforms.
- When
- The settlement was announced on Wednesday, August 27; Bejar testified the previous week.
- Why
- The states pursued claims concerning alleged harms to children and teens, including negative social comparison, recommendations of troubling content, prolonged use and shortcomings in reporting and moderation.
Critics and Mental-Health Concerns
States and Meta’s Defense
Whether the settlement fixes the central harms
Critics and Mental-Health Concerns
Arturo Bejar said the agreement could preserve Meta’s existing safety practices without making Instagram safer, and that the problems he described are addressed only glancingly.
States and Meta’s Defense
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the settlement creates real, enforceable change, transparency and protections for children and teens. Meta said it was building on efforts to empower parents and support teens.
Effectiveness of hiding likes and reactions
Critics and Mental-Health Concerns
Critics can point to Meta’s own earlier testing, which found at most a modest effect on users’ experience and no observed movement in overall well-being measures.
States and Meta’s Defense
The settlement treats hidden likes and reaction counts as a measure to reduce negative social comparison among young users.
Limits and controls for teens
Critics and Mental-Health Concerns
Conron said the optional non-algorithmic feed would probably go largely unused, while Bejar argued that the agreement does not address recommendation systems, reporting failures and moderation problems meaningfully.
States and Meta’s Defense
Conron said built-in daily usage limits could help some teens who struggle emotionally when leaving the apps, and Bonta said the agreement’s controls constitute real protections.
Key facts
- Settlement value
- Meta will pay the states up to $18 billion over the next decade.
- Affected platforms
- Facebook and Instagram.
- Like-count measure
- Meta must hide likes and reaction counts on posts for young users.
- Other remedies
- The agreement includes parental controls, daily usage caps and efforts to detect minors misrepresenting themselves as adults.
- Non-algorithmic feed
- Meta must offer teens a non-algorithmically curated feed on an opt-in basis.
- Whistleblower
- Former Meta safety engineer Arturo Bejar said the settlement does not meaningfully address the harms he testified about.
- Expert assessment
- Psychologist Jane Conron said time caps could help some teens but predicted the optional non-algorithmic feed would see little use.
Quotes
Arturo Bejar
Former Meta safety engineer and whistleblower whose testimony supported the states’ child-safety case.
“This agreement could simply codify much of the 'safety theater' that Meta has been doing in recent years. Instagram will be used a little less, but it will not be any safer.”
livemint.com
Rob Bonta
California attorney general who announced and defended the settlement.
“We agree that there is more to be done by legislatures and industry, but believe that the settlement we announced yesterday institutes real and enforceable change, real transparency, and real protections for children and teens across the country.”
livemint.com
Sources
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