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

SYDNEY: Meta’s move to restrict teenagers’ use of social media in the US shows companies have tools to better protect young people online, Australian regulators said on Thursday, as the country grapples with patchy enforcement of restrictions at home.

Meta’s US$18 billion settlement with nearly 50 US 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 social media companies “have the tools at their disposal to protect young people from their addictive features but have chosen not to use them”.

“That’s why Australia took world-leading action to create a minimum age for social media, and we are proud that more than 20 countries are joining us,” she added in an email to Reuters.

Meta agreed to pay the sum over a decade and limit how teenagers use Facebook and Instagram under an agreement with nearly all US 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, including imposing a default two-hour limit on its apps for users under the age of 18.

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

Early evidence suggests the law has been undermined by weak age-verification systems, with studies showing that most Australian teenagers continue to access social media months after the restrictions took effect.

Multiple studies, including from Australia’s internet regulator, showed 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 regulator powers.

As governments worldwide seek social media curbs, Poland’s minister of digital affairs said he has asked the European Commission to impose a €250 million (US$291 million) fine on Meta.

“I also call on Meta to immediately introduce effective tools to eliminate scams, false advertising, and the promotion of illegal applications,” Krzysztof Gawkowski posted on X.

In Asia, countries including China, South Korea, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are also seeking to curb social media activity among children.

In South Korea, its media regulator said on Thursday that measures proposed by Meta to curb potentially addictive features for young users should ideally be applied worldwide, as Seoul considers tighter rules on how social media platforms serve minors.

The Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC) said in a statement to Reuters that social media companies needed to take greater responsibility for protecting children and teenagers and pointed to seven bills pending in the country’s parliament aimed at strengthening youth protections online.

The commission “believes that in order to create an environment in which Korean youth can use social networking services safely, it is necessary to strengthen social media providers’ responsibility to protect minors,” the regulator said.

Philippine Department of Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry Aguda said he hoped the Meta deal “will boost my talks with Meta this morning here in Singapore at their HQ”.

Aguda is meeting with Meta officials to discuss issues including online sexual abuse and exploitation of children and child sexual abuse material, financial scams targeting Filipinos and online grooming of minors.

In the United States, social media companies still face thousands of lawsuits in federal and state courts by individuals, school districts, municipalities and other government entities claiming they knowingly sought to addict children and caused a mental health crisis including harms such as anxiety, depression and suicide.

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.”