Meta's $18 billion child safety settlement criticized by former engineer as insufficient

Meta agreed to an $18 billion settlement with 48 states to improve child safety on Instagram and Facebook, including time limits and age verification. Former Meta engineering director Arturo Béjar called it a milestone but said it allows Meta to define harm and doesn't address addictive content recommendations. The changes apply only to U.S. users under 18.

The settlement's age verification provisions include third-party tools and regular outside audits, with specific targets for false positive rates—minors mistakenly identified as adults. If a user is removed for being under 13, Meta must also check the ages of their friends. Béjar praised this section for its measurable goals and independent testing, contrasting it with the company's previous "don't ask, don't tell" approach to underage users.

While the two-hour daily limit and nighttime block are default settings requiring parental permission to change, other protections remain opt-in, including disabling video autoplay and switching from algorithmic feeds to chronological ordering. The settlement applies only to American users under 18, with adults able to adopt individual controls but not the full teen experience settings.