Meta, after the agreement in the USA what changes for minors on Facebook and Instagram

Meta agreed to pay up to 17 billion dollars and to limit access to Instagram e Facebook per i minors in approximately 50 states and U.S. territories, reaching a settlement with their respective attorneys general comparable to the landmark 1998 settlement against tobacco companies.

The settlement resolves only one aspect, the most significant, of the vast legal battle in which all social platforms they are accused of creating addiction in young Americans. The agreement, which has yet to be approved by the courts, sets a historic precedent for YouTube, TikTok e Snapchatwho are also facing thousands of lawsuits across the country.

The money

Meta will pay little more than 12 billion dollars in guaranteed compensation: 11.7 billion in ten annual installments until 2035 and 459 million to resolve old disputes relating to the scandal Cambridge Analytica. An additional $5 billion will only be due if Snap, TikTok e YouTube will accept similar rules and payments, totaling about $17 billion.

The funds are used to help young people with psychological problems and to prevent distress, but their final allocation is up to state legislatures.

Within six months, the accounts of children aged 13 to 17 in the affected territories will be automatically blocked from midnight to 6:00 am (local time), except for messaging. Notifications will be disabled from 10pm to 7am and during school hours.

Teenagers will be able to use Instagram e Facebook for a maximum of two hours a day. Messages and videos of 22 minutes or more do not fall under this limit. The number of “likes” will be automatically hidden, filters simulating cosmetic surgery will be banned and, within four months, a non-personalized feed. Second MetaAmerican teens spend an average of about an hour a day on Instagram.

Conditional tightening of the rules

Se Snap, TikTok e YouTube will comply with the same obligations, through agreement or state legislation, the night blocking will be extended from 10pm to 7am and the daily limit will be reduced to one hour per app, for a period of ten years instead of five.

Age verification

Meta has one year to implement a system age verification: The tools used must not identify as adults more than 3% of users aged between 13 and 15 and 10% of users aged between 16 and 17. A new account whose age has not been verified within 14 days will be considered a teenager’s account.

For users under the age of 13, who are prohibited by federal law from accessing the platform, Meta must assume that a reported account belongs to a minor, unless proven otherwise, and develop a detection model within one year. The question of whether Meta violated this law remains unresolved: the agreement is “agnostic” on this point, as recognized by the States during the hearing.

The role of parents

Only a parent whose account is linked to the teen’s account will be able to relax the curfew or time limit. You will receive daily updates on your child’s screen time and can adjust school schedules.

The weakness, acknowledged by both sides during the hearing, is that there is still no guarantee that the “supervising parent” is actually who he says he is. In fact, neither a birth certificate nor a credit card are required. Meta admitted it faces a “very difficult challenge” with no “precise solution” at this stage; States talk about “emerging” technologies to address the

Control and sanctions

An independent auditor, paid by Metawill monitor the application for ten years. A separate clause in the agreement prohibits the giant from Mark Zuckerberg of making misleading statements about its safety features for teenagers.

What the agreement does not address

Applies only to United States and, as Meta clarified, it does not affect anything elsewhere. It doesn’t concern Snap, TikTok e YouTubenor the thousands of lawsuits filed by families and school districts, nor the New Mexico and the Floridawho are continuing their legal proceedings.