Meta settlement opens new front in global fight over social media harm

By Byron Kaye, Karen Lema and Toby Sterling

SYDNEY/MANILA/BRUSSELS, Aug 27 (Reuters) – Meta’s move to restrict teenagers’ use of social media in the U.S. shows companies have tools to better protect young people online, Australian officials said on Thursday, while in the Philippines, an official said the U.S. company had pledged to boost protection there too.

Meta’s up to $18 billion settlement with nearly all U.S. states over social media harm to teenagers has opened a new front in a global government fight to protect children and curb addiction to platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.

Governments around the world are trying to curb children’s access to harmful online content, including a world-first ban in Australia late last year on social media for children under 16.

Australian Communications Minister Anika Wells said in an email to Reuters that social media companies “have the tools at their disposal to protect young people from their addictive features but have chosen not to use them”.

Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion over a decade and limit how teenagers use Facebook and Instagram under an agreement with nearly all U.S. states to resolve claims that it designed those platforms to addict children. Meta denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.

The deal brings sweeping changes to Meta’s Facebook and Instagram platforms in the United States, including imposing a default two-hour limit on its apps for users under the age of 18.

   In South Korea, the media regulator said some of Meta’s measures should be applied to young users worldwide, rather than just in specific markets. Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum said the government needed to review its potential impact for Mexico.

There were some early signs that the settlement could help other countries win similar measures. Philippines Department of Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry Aguda told Reuters that both Meta and gaming platform Roblox had pledged in a meeting on Thursday to tighten age verification processes in the country, as well as expand parental controls and implement time limits on the social media. 

The European Commission said it was waiting for Meta to present changes to limit the addictive designs of its social networks.

The Commission already issued preliminary findings earlier this year that Meta breached the Digital Services Act (DSA).

In July, it said Facebook and Instagram should disable autoplay and endless scrolling by default, introduce screen-time breaks and change recommendation systems to reduce incentives to keep users engaged — measures that go beyond the U.S. settlement.

In April, the Commission said Meta had failed to stop children under 13 from opening or maintaining accounts. The U.S. settlement could make it harder for Meta to argue that tougher age-verification measures are impractical.

“We have been very clear … we expect proper screen time management, we expect proper parental control on these platforms. Meta knows … the ball is in Meta’s court,” said spokesperson Thomas Regnier. 

EXECUTION ISSUES

Enforcement of restrictions in Australia has, however, been patchy so far. 

Early evidence suggests the law has been undermined by weak age-verification systems, with multiple studies, including from Australia’s internet regulator, showing 80% of minors were still on social media months after the ban took effect in December. That prompted lawmakers to double the maximum fine and increase regulatory powers.

In Asia, countries including China, South Korea, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are also seeking tighter oversight of social media as well as curbs, including to block alleged scams, and in particular to protect children. 

Australian class-action law firm Shine Lawyers said it was in discussions with Mark Lanier, a lawyer who worked on the California action against Meta, about a potential similar action.

“For years, families have been asking whether enough has been done to protect children from platform features designed to maximise engagement,” said Shine Lawyers head of class actions Craig Allsopp.

“We are now examining whether similar legal issues arise in Australia, including whether Australian children and families may have claims connected to the design, operation and promotion of social media platforms. If Australian families have been affected, they deserve answers.”

(Reporting by Byron Kaye in Sydney, Karen Lema and Nestor Corrales in Manila, Kyu-seok Shim in Seoul, Pawel Florkiewicz and Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw, Ashley Tang in Kuala Lumpur, Dominque Patton in Paris, Inti Landauro in Brussels,Toby Sterling in Amsterdam and Aida Pelaez; Writing by Anne Marie Roantree and Dominique Patton; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Tomasz Janowski and Nick Zieminski)