// 9TO5MAC — MOBILE & WEB
Unprecedented teen protections on Instagram see $18B lawsuit settled
Meta has reached a settlement with US states in an $18B lawsuit accusing the social media giant of deliberately making Instagram addictive to teenagers. The money will be used to fund youth safety initiatives and more, though there is a catch.
More importantly, the company has agreed to introduce unprecedented protections against overuse of its social media apps by teens …
US states have long been pushing for stronger protections against “harmful” algorithmic feeds in social media apps, arguing that companies like Meta deliberately seek to get them addicted to overuse of apps like Instagram. Harmful effects include cyberbullying, pressure to achieve unrealistic body images, and loss of sleep leading to reduced grades at school.
Actions by a growing number of individual states eventually led to a coordinated lawsuit against Meta by attorneys general representing a total of 52 US states, territories, and the District of Columbia. Meta has now agreed to settle the suit and introduce far stronger protections.
Meta listed the new measures, which will automatically apply to under-18s on both Instagram and Facebook:
Meta provisionally agreed to pay $18 billion to US states, but said only 70% of it is guaranteed. It says the remaining 30% will be conditional on YouTube and TikTok implementing similar measures and making similar contributions.
The company also says that its time limit and night mode features are only guaranteed for five years unless YouTube and TikTok implement the same limits
It’s taken coordinated action by US states to achieve what the federal government has been unable to. These protections have the potential to be genuinely meaningful, but that does rely on them being properly enforced: teens have previously been able to circumvent many earlier measures.
While this agreement only applies in the US, we can be sure that regulators around the world will be seeking to obtain similar protections for teens in their own countries. It seems likely that Meta will eventually be forced to implement these limits worldwide, and it’s disappointing – if not remotely surprising – that it has not done so on a voluntary basis.
What’s your take on the deal? Please share in the comments.