Recent legal developments have led to significant changes on major social media platforms, aiming to better protect young users. In an impactful settlement involving Meta Platforms, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, actions are being taken to address concerns over children’s mental well-being and addiction to social media.
After a lawsuit involving 47 states, including Wisconsin, Meta has committed to paying up to $16.7 billion over a decade. This settlement addresses allegations that the company crafted addictive environments for children. Wisconsin is anticipated to receive between $219 million and $313 million from this agreement.
The settlement specifies that at least half of these funds will be allocated to mitigating social media’s negative impact on young people and enhancing mental health protections. In line with these objectives, Meta will implement new safeguards for users under 18, such as enforcing strict daily usage limits and curtailing access during nighttime hours.
Insights from Experts
Roxy Etta, a child development expert from UW-Extension, remarked on these new measures during an interview with WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.” She acknowledged the progress, stating, “It’s worth celebrating that these are moves in the right direction,” but also emphasized that the journey to this point required significant effort and wasn’t purely altruistic on Meta’s part.
Despite these steps, Etta conveyed caution, suggesting that the protections alone might not suffice to safeguard children fully. She encouraged parents to engage proactively with their children about online experiences during the transition to these new features.
Rob Ferrett: As part of this settlement, Meta will place daily time limits for children using Instagram and Facebook to a couple hours per day. Is that enough of a cap on children’s use of these social media platforms?
Roxy Etta: The field in general has really tried to sort of shift away from solely seeing importance on hours per day. Because I think what matters above and beyond the amount of time that kids are spending on screens is what their experience is like on a screen.
Discussing the importance of screen time quality, Etta noted that the nature of content viewed is crucial. Two hours of exposure to negative content can have detrimental effects, contrasting with longer periods of positive interactions and learning.
RF: This settlement is just for Meta platforms, Facebook and Instagram. There are platforms like TikTok and YouTube that are not subject to these new protections. Are you looking for either similar lawsuits or changes in policy for other platforms?
RE: We ideally wouldn’t be playing whack-a-mole with tech platforms. The bigger conversation that I’m hearing now is that we really need federal regulation for Congress to establish protections across platforms — the Kids Online Safety Act and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act, in particular — to set the standard across the industry.
Guidance for Parents
RF: Some of your work involves working with parents. What do you recommend parents do with their kids as they grow into using social media?
RE: If you are a parent that’s struggling with this, you are not alone. I talk with parents about this all the time. It feels like an isolating, individual family issue, but really the families are struggling with this around the world. This is extremely difficult to navigate as a parent.
Emphasizing open communication, Etta advised parents to initiate conversations about online experiences from an early age. By discussing content and feelings associated with social media, parents can offer crucial support without needing to be experts.
She suggested assessing how social media impacts daily activities such as sleep, face-to-face interaction, and physical activity, and recommended creating nighttime screen rules to ensure these elements remain integral to a child’s routine. Etta also highlighted the importance of parental behavior, noting that as role models, parents’ habits significantly influence their children’s media consumption.
