Can Parents Trust Mark Zuckerberg?

State leaders and advocates are praising a landmark settlement with Meta that includes billions in child-safety payouts and stricter controls, such as daily time limits and age-verification measures.

Meta has faced intense public accusations and scrutiny regarding child safety for about five years, beginning when whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked internal company documents to The Wall Street Journal that revealed Meta's own internal research showed Instagram negatively impacted mental health and body image for a significant portion of teenage girls.

But can parents trust Mark Zuckerberg?

Be informed, not misled.

A bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general sued the parent company that owns and operates platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads, claiming the company knew about and did nothing to prevent minors from getting addicted to social media.

"There are now a generation of kids who have lost sleep because of notifications and alerts all hours of the night, who performed less well in school because they were distracted and tired," said Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser (D).

In some cases, young people even took their own lives.

"While Meta is certainly paying for its conduct, this was never just about the money," said Attorney General Russell Coleman (R-Kentucky) in a press release. "Kids deserve a childhood that isn't measured in likes and followers."

According to AP, the company has now agreed to pay $17 billion and implement stronger child-safety measures on Facebook and Instagram.

The settlement will be paid out over 10 years. California will receive the largest share, at least $1.5 billion, but several other states will still collect hundreds of millions of dollars each over the decade.

What META promises to do.

The settlement requires Meta to implement stronger, more user-friendly parental controls and to make immediate changes on Instagram and Facebook, including a two-hour daily time limit and mandatory "productive pauses" for children after 15 minutes of continuous use on Facebook and Instagram, and again at 60 and 90 minutes to interrupt endless scrolling.

"Nighttime blocks" also restrict children's access from midnight to 6:00 a.m., and limited school-time access eliminates push notifications on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. during the school year.

This is an overview of what Zuckerberg's META will do.

While safety improvements are ongoing, the settlement requires Meta to implement immediate changes on Instagram and Facebook, including:

• Time limits and “Productive Pauses” for children: for its two platforms, Instagram and Facebook, a combined two-hour daily time limit with mandatory pauses after 15 minutes of continuous use and again at 60 and 90 minutes to interrupt endless scrolling.
• “Nighttime blocks” restricting children’s access from 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.
• Limited school-time access for children, eliminating push notifications on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. during the school year.
• Robust age assurance measures to more effectively verify the age of young users.
• Safer, age-appropriate content controls, including stronger safeguards against bullying, content promoting eating disorders, and content related to suicide and self-harm.
• Stronger, more user-friendly parental controls.

Most of the changes will be in effect for 10 years. Both the implementation and efficacy of the features will be regularly assessed by an independent auditor and the settling states, including Kentucky. Notably, this provides a template to increase online safety protections on other social media platforms.

Kentucky will also receive nearly $7.5 million from Meta to settle its investigation regarding Cambridge Analytica. Leading up to the 2016 election, it was revealed Meta shared nonpublic information about its users with third parties like the political consulting and data analytics firm.

Will other companies follow?

 "What we really need is a broader industry trend with stronger safety standards as the floor," says Haley McNamara, executive director and chief strategy officer for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE). "When we think about it, enforced daily limits, nighttime restrictions, and stronger age assurance are still very basic expectations for safety or well-being online."

She says other major platforms will face growing pressure to step up.

"TikTok and YouTube are going to start receiving a lot of pressure to at least match Meta's standards," McNamara asserts. "I think that's a very good thing just to raise the bar across the industry."

Takeaway

While independent oversight of these important improvements is a welcome step, McNamara adds that parents must remain actively engaged in monitoring their kids' digital experiences, as the new measures do not make online spaces completely safe.

"It doesn't block off potential loopholes that just haven't been discovered yet," the NCOSE spokesperson points out, noting that "Meta has a history of rolling out safety standards that then don't work."

According to McNamara, about four-fifths of Instagram Teens' safety settings did not work in a test conducted earlier this year.

So, while she is "very grateful" that there will be an independent oversight requirement to ensure these are as effective as possible, McNamara reiterates that parents "still have to keep our hands on the wheel and stay engaged with our kids' online experience."

Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged, Be Prayerful.