Meta’s new protections for young Facebook and Instagram users will initially cover only Americans, Bloomberg reported. The measures form part of settlements concerning alleged safety risks to children.
Meta could pay over $18 billion in combined settlements. Its new rules will limit younger users’ daily time on both platforms. They will also restrict attempts to disable important safety settings.
However, Meta has not announced any similar safeguards for children in India yet. The company has not provided any timetable for extending these protections here. Meta will monitor the American changes, according to a company spokesperson.
Meta will enforce daily time limits of two hours, restrict app usage from midnight to 6 a.m., mute notifications during school hours, and hide 'like' counts on posts for users aged 13 to 17.
Meta has not announced any specific timeline for rolling out its new safety measures for children in India, as the initial protections currently apply only to users in the United States.
Parents will need to supervise their teens' accounts to change or disable certain settings, such as daily time limits and night mode features, ensuring parental involvement in managing app usage.
Meta's new safety measures are part of a landmark settlement totaling up to $18 billion, which addresses allegations that the company endangered children through addictive features and inadequate privacy protections.
Yes, while the changes represent progress, critics argue that they may not sufficiently address the potential harms from social media and that the system relies heavily on parental oversight, which can vary significantly among families.
Governments worldwide are examining the possible impact of social media on children. Over two dozen countries have introduced or are considering restrictions.
Britain plans to prohibit social media use among children below 16. It has also proposed night-time restrictions for older teenagers.
British minister Pat McFadden said American children should not receive better protection.
“It’s interesting they chose to settle yesterday rather than to continue to fight this. This is a huge issue for parents in this country and governments around the world as to how to regulate this,” McFadden told the BBC.
“We don’t want a situation where children in the US have got a higher level of protection than children here,” he added.
Meta reached a landmark settlement on 26 August covering 47 states and several US territories. The owner of Facebook and Instagram could pay up to $17.1 billion in penalties. It must also introduce major protections for younger users.
The states accused Meta of violating child privacy and consumer protection laws. They claimed that its platforms had used addictive features that endangered children.
