tech
‘This is not the end’: Experts welcome Meta’s new teen protections, with caveats
Colorado Solicitor General Shannon Stevenson, right, embraces a colleague outside court in Oakland after Meta reached a settlement over claims that its platforms contributed to teen social media addiction on Wednesday.
TL;DR
- Meta reached a settlement with nearly every U.S. state, agreeing to pay up to $17 billion to resolve lawsuits concerning teen social media use.
- New safeguards for teen accounts will include daily time limits, disabling notifications during school hours, and allowing users to opt out of autoplay and personalized feeds.
- Experts cautiously welcomed the settlement, acknowledging it shifts responsibility to platforms but stressing the need for ongoing evaluation and parental/teen vigilance.
- Concerns about social media's addictive properties and negative mental health impacts, such as anxiety, depression, and poor body image, are well-documented.
- The settlement aims to mitigate harm caused by features like infinite scroll and algorithm-driven personalization, which experts compare to addictive substances.