All articles tagged with #teen safety
California lawmakers approved AB 1709 to bar under-16s from features like infinite scrolling and autoplay designed to maximize screen time, framing it as child-protection policy as Gov. Newsom weighs whether to sign. The move follows Meta’s up-to-$18 billion youth-safety settlement and reflects bipartisan momentum to curb “addictive” design without outright banning accounts.
Meta’s youth-safety settlement requires a default two-hour daily cap on combined Facebook and Instagram use for users under 18, blocks overnight access from midnight to 6 a.m., adds school-day focus modes and 15-minute usage prompts, enhances parental controls, and pushes non-personalized feeds and stricter age verification. The deal also includes independent audits, potential industry-wide adoption with rival platforms, and a rollout over coming months to years.
Meta will pay about $17 billion to settle claims that its platforms harmed young users, funding youth-safety initiatives and enforcing a decade-long package of safeguards on Facebook and Instagram for under-18s, including a two-hour daily limit, night mode, autoplay restrictions, removal of like counts, and a non-algorithmic feed option, plus stronger age verification and an independent auditor; most measures roll out within six months (some features may take up to a year).
Meta reached about an $18 billion settlement with 48 states over alleged harm to children from Instagram/Facebook, a decision celebrated by parents who blame social media for their kids’ deaths but who say money can’t bring loved ones back. The deal includes new safeguards for minors: a two-hour daily limit on use, a default night-time shutdown, notifications silenced during school hours, enhanced parental controls, and teen prompts every 15 minutes of continuous use, plus a push for industry-wide changes including calls for rivals to follow suit. While many see it as accountability and a meaningful step, several families say more is needed and private lawsuits still loom as litigation continues against Meta and other platforms.
Instagram chief Adam Mosseri testified in a multi-state trial over social-media addiction and teen privacy, saying he hadn’t been told to hide or limit data and that lawyers reviewed materials for legal compliance; the testimony referenced a 2023 deck showing teens disproportionately consumed certain sensitive content and highlighted low adoption of the take-a-break feature, as states seek penalties and potential changes to Meta’s design.
Meta has agreed to an about $18 billion settlement with 29 states over claims its platforms addict minors and harm youth mental health. The deal requires safety upgrades including a two-hour daily limit for users aged 13–17 (parents govern changes), default night mode and school mode, hiding likes, blocking extreme makeup filters, and offering a non-algorithmic feed with an option to turn off autoplay. An independent auditor will monitor implementation; 70% of the settlement will be paid to states over the next decade, with 30% contingent on YouTube and TikTok taking similar steps. Meta did not admit wrongdoing, and the changes could go into effect within months, potentially affecting its ad-based business.
Meta Platforms agreed to pay up to $16.68 billion to settle a multi-state lawsuit alleging Instagram and Facebook hooked young users and mishandled data from under-13s. The deal imposes a suite of teen-safety features on Instagram and Facebook for five years, including a two-hour daily time limit with pauses at 15, 60 and 90 minutes, nighttime blocks (12 a.m.–6 a.m.), limited school-time access, stricter age verification, stronger parental controls, and safeguards against harmful content and excessive social comparisons, overseen by an independent auditor. If comparable terms are adopted by other apps, the daily limit could drop to 60 minutes for 10 years. The settlement ends the case as Nvidia earnings were awaited after the close on the same day.
Meta Platforms will settle with California and 28 other states for up to $18 billion to fund youth online safety programs, implement teen-use limits (two hours per day across Facebook and Instagram with a parent override), default to non-algorithmic feeds, hide likes, block extreme makeup filters, and provide new parental tools, with court approval required; the accord signals a broad industry push toward safer teen social media.
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri testified in Meta’s landmark youth-mental-health trial, acknowledging that the 'Take a Break' safety feature had only a small share of teen users before it was made default in 2024 Teen Accounts, and that safety features were often hard to find; the states seek about $200 billion in damages, with the trial potentially lasting six weeks and a verdict expected from US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.
In a California federal trial, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri disputed prosecutors’ claim that Meta hid negative teen-safety information, saying the company doesn’t publish every stat and noting the Take a Break feature had a low opt-in rate (about 1.8%); the 29-state suit alleges addictive designs and data practices harmed minors and could cost up to $200 billion, with further testimony expected.
A former Meta insider testified that Mark Zuckerberg's leadership culture hindered safety fixes on Facebook and Instagram, arguing default settings left harmful features enabled for teens and that profit-focused decisions under the culture blocked addressing safety. The multi-state consumer-protection case accuses Meta of engineering its platforms to hook minors and harvest data, with penalties potentially discussed up to $1.4 trillion, while Meta contends the charges rely on selectively quoted documents and that risks were addressed. The six-week trial may glimpse whether Zuckerberg himself will testify.
EU regulators preliminarily found Meta’s autoplay, infinite scroll, and highly personalized content addictive and not adequately assessed for risks to users, especially minors, under the Digital Services Act; they urged Meta to disable these features by default, introduce screen-time breaks, and adjust its recommender system, with fines up to 6% of global turnover if it fails to comply; Meta disputes the findings but says it has teen protections and will defend its approach as the investigation continues.
Four states leading a coalition of 33 allege Meta monetized teen use on Instagram and Facebook and misled consumers about addictive features, seeking about $1.4 trillion in damages; Meta calls the figure unsubstantiated and the case moves to court in August amid broader youth-targeting litigation, including a prior $6 million verdict against Meta and Google.
Australia will double the maximum penalty for violating its social media minimum-age law from AUD 49.5 million to AUD 99 million and expand the eSafety Commissioner’s powers to compel platforms and third parties (including age-verification and app-store providers) to show how they keep users under 16 off their services, six months after the Online Safety Amendment Act took effect. More than five million accounts have been removed or restricted, and the eSafety Commissioner is investigating five platforms—Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube—to close enforcement gaps.
Techdirt argues that UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s plan to ban under-16s from social platforms mirrors Australia’s approach but amounts to political theater rather than a proven child-safety policy. The piece says forced device controls to block nude images, potential penalties for executives, and stricter age-verification may push teens toward less safe spaces, while the evidence shows teen harm from social media is relatively small. It criticizes rushing the Online Safety Act and questions whether Bluesky fits the ban, framing the move as headline-grabbing regulation rather than data-driven policy.