In a lawsuit filed by U.S. state governments claiming that Meta, the operator of Facebook and Instagram, encouraged youth social media (SNS) addiction, they agreed to strengthen protective measures, including paying 25 trillion won and limiting usage time to two hours per day. However, there are concerns that it remains to be seen whether this will have a substantial impact on adolescents’ mental health, and it is still uncertain whether protective measures will be implemented in other countries such as South Korea.
According to the settlement agreement and related documents submitted to the Northern District of California on the 26th (local time), Meta has prepared a settlement agreement with the 47 states of the United States and others, which will take effect once approved by the court. Accordingly, Meta will pay up to $18 billion (about 24.8 trillion won) to these states over the next 10 years. Of this, $12.7 billion is a guaranteed amount first, and the remaining roughly $5 billion would be added if other major SNS companies such as YouTube, TikTok, and Snap reached similar agreements. In addition, Meta will limit Facebook and Instagram usage to just two hours per day for users under 18, and will introduce a shutdown that blocks nighttime access from midnight to 6 a.m. unless parental consent is given. If competitors such as YouTube also accept the youth usage time limit, the daily access time will be further reduced to one hour, and the nighttime restriction will be extended to 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Also, during the semester, a “school mode” will be applied on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., blocking all notifications except for messages between individuals. In addition, the Youth Account will exclude the algorithm that constantly recommends content using artificial intelligence (AI), and instead allow users to choose a “depersonalized feed” that shows only the posts from the accounts they have subscribed to in chronological order. Additionally, users of the service will not be able to see the number of reactions such as “likes” on posts made by themselves or others, and using photo filters that make someone appear to have had plastic surgery or makeup will also be blocked. They will develop age-verification technology to prevent cases where teenagers sign up by entering an adult’s date of birth, and develop an AI model that blocks access to children under 13, who are prohibited from signing up.
However, the settlement proposal that Meta submitted that day is limited in scope to the U.S. states that participated in the lawsuit. Therefore, attention is focused on whether Meta will announce the implementation of new youth protection measures in countries other than the United States. Kendis Ozers, a psychology professor at the University of California, told The New York Times (NYT), “If the entire industry does not join in implementing protective measures, young people can easily move to other platforms.” Washington Correspondent Lim Ju-hyung
Will it be Meta’s way of resolving uncertainty, or will it mean an additional cost burden.
Anyway, it’s about time that even the operators have come to accept the harmfulness of SNS to some extent.
I get the feeling that a lot may change in the future.
