From 0 a.m. to 6 a.m., underage users’ Instagram and Facebook accounts will be locked unless parents or guardians step in to unlock them. This is the most concrete and graphic change in the lawsuit, which lasted a week and ended in settlement.
The lawsuit filed against Meta by California and 28 other states accuses the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads of deliberately adding addictive mechanisms into its products, misleading the public about user safety issues, and illegally collecting information from children under 13 without parental consent. The case trial was originally held in Oakland, California, and was expected to last six weeks, but the two sides announced an agreement on August 26, and the trial was suspended.
According to the terms of the settlement, Meta will have to pay at least US$12.1 billion (approximately 890 million pounds) in the next ten years. If competitors such as TikTok and YouTube also adopt similar security measures and propose corresponding compensation, the amount may increase by another 5 billion pounds. The entire settlement does not include an admission of any wrongdoing by Meta, and the company denied the allegations throughout the trial.
The agreement also requires Meta to make a series of specific adjustments to the accounts of users under the age of 18. The two platforms will set a two-hour daily usage limit in total. A pause reminder will appear after 15 minutes of continuous use, and will be prompted again when the cumulative use reaches 60 minutes and 90 minutes. Notifications from 10pm to 7am will be muted, and notifications from 8am to 3pm on school days will also be fully blocked. In addition, Meta must also provide timeline dynamics that are not sorted by algorithms, hide likes by default, and remove filters that can simulate extreme plastic surgery effects.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the settlement "will make social media less dangerous for children and will bring about dramatic changes for children and families," adding that Meta "agreed to undertake a massive transformation that will reduce the risk of harm from the platform within months." Washington, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb described this as "a major public health victory for youth across the country." Meta responded: "It is absolutely necessary to ensure that teenagers have a safe and meaningful experience on our platform." The company also called on competitors to follow up on similar measures, on the grounds that if other applications do not have corresponding protection, teenagers' usage time may simply be transferred.
Earlier this month, a New Mexico court also ordered Meta to pay $942 million and require the company to improve its child protection mechanisms for failing to prevent child sexual exploitation content on Facebook and Instagram. Meta said it would appeal the ruling.
It is worth mentioning that the movie "The Social Reckoning", adapted from the subsequent events of "The Social Network", will use the "Facebook Files" exposed by whistleblower Frances Haugen as the subject, depicting the controversy within the company that puts growth and profits before user safety. The writer and director is still Aaron Sorkin, Jeremy Strong will play Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Mikey Madison will play Haugen, and Jeremy Allen White will play reporter Jeff Horwitz. It is expected to be released in theaters on October 9.
