Meta has agreed to pay up to $18 billion over a 10-year period in US lawsuits linking Facebook and Instagram to negative effects on children’s mental health.
Restrictions on children’s accounts in the US
The agreement calls for limiting the daily screen time of users under 18 to two hours. Planned measures also include restricting nighttime use and strengthening age-verification checks.
Parental-control features for children are planned to be enabled by default, while the fact that the measures would cover only users in the US has drawn criticism.
Calls for the measures to be implemented worldwide
Australia, the United Kingdom, the European Union, South Korea and the Philippines called on Meta to provide a similar level of protection for child users worldwide.
Experts viewed the measures as a step in the right direction, while saying that TikTok and YouTube should also strengthen protections for child users.