TEXAS — Social media giant Meta has settled with over three dozen states, including Texas, in a case alleging its platforms are harming children.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has agreed to pay Texas more than $1 billion, just a slice of the more than $17 billion Meta is paying all the involved states combined.
Along with the large dollar amount, Meta has also said that it will create new restrictions on its platforms for young users to limit their screen time, a move Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton celebrated.
In a statement released on Aug. 26, Paxton stated, “Meta will be required to implement stricter age-assurance measures and a daily two-hour limit for teen users. Notifications will be disabled by default during school hours unless changed by a parent. Likes and reactions on posts will be hidden by default to limit social comparison.”
“Additionally,” he added, “the company will roll out a nighttime access mode that by default restricts notifications and other features for children during certain nighttime hours, while continuing to limit age-inappropriate content and support parental supervision.”
Some parents, however, aren’t that convinced of the move.
“I think the settlement was a brilliant PR move by Meta,” said Shelley Delayne.
Delayne is a mom in the Austin area, and she has previously worked on creating a safe-to-use phone for kids. Applying rules to her own child for social media, Delayne said she is trying to avoid her child seeing something they shouldn’t too young.
“To protect their kids from things they weren’t ready for,” Delayne said. “To the extent that that was possible. And to know what they were up to.”
So when she heard word about the legal settlement and the new features Meta plans to roll out, she wondered if the company figured out a way that prevents a child from circumventing the features altogether.
“Nothing really meaningfully prevents them from setting up another profile,” she said.
One digital safety expert agrees but gives credit to kids for their creative ways of getting around the rules.
“Kids are so smart, and we have to love that about them,” said Gena Peth.
Peth is the founder of “Screen Smart Moms,” a book that teaches parents how to keep their children safe online. She says she tries to cover controls throughout the entire online network, from devices to the routers.
“A lot of parents are focusing on a certain technology like social media or AI, but I have to teach them about the whole ecosystem because there’s always backdoors for anything,” said Peth.
If kids can still find a way around rules, who is ultimately responsible for keeping kids safe online: parents or the social media company?
Dr. Laura Bright, a media analytics expert from the University of Texas at Austin, says everyone involved has to be held accountable.
“You can’t let one off the hook without the other,” she said. “We’re promoting the media literacy with parents. We’re also having a broader discussion with the social media platforms to say, ‘you have this audience on there that is essentially a vulnerable audience.’”
Digital literacy is a core of Peth’s work and Delayne’s conversations with her child.
“In order to use this platform safely, there are skills you need to have. There are things you need to know in order to navigate this environment safely,” Delayne said.
Paxton, in his Aug. 26 statement, also discussed the importance of digital literacy. The funds from Meta, according to Paxton, will be allocated toward different funds such as youth mental health and after-school programs.
Paxton also shared that part of the $1 billion Texas is set to receive will go toward digital literacy initiatives.
