2-hour daily limits, no nighttime scrolling and more
Meta is making changes to its apps like Instagram and Facebook for teens in the United States, including things like a two-hour daily time limit.
Teens here in Canada are divided on whether it’s a good thing.
“I think it’s a good idea because I think people in general aren’t conscious of the time they’re spending on social media,” said Kayla Korbachik, a 13-year-old from Toronto, Ontario.
Others aren’t convinced.
“I feel like it won’t stop people from just switching to another platform to keep on doom scrolling,” said Kennedy Yon, a 15-year-old also from Toronto.
The new time limit — which can be turned off by a parent — is one of several restrictions the company announced last month after they were taken to court over claims that their apps were harming teens.
What are the rest of the restrictions and why are some experts saying the changes don’t go far enough?
First, check out the video below to hear what else kids and teens in Toronto had to say about Meta’s tweaks.
The new restrictions
In August, Meta was sued by a handful of U.S. states and went to trial in Oakland, California.
The lawsuit claimed that Meta contributed to the youth mental health crisis by designing their apps to be addictive and hid these harms from the public.
They were also accused of breaking federal law by collecting data about kids under 13 without their parents’ consent.
The company denied those claims and said it would show evidence in the trial that it was committed to the safety of its young users.
Following the lawsuit, Meta agreed to make changes to apps like Facebook and Instagram, including time limits, to better protect teens. (Image credit: Richard Drew/The Associated Press)
But on Aug. 26, just a week into the trial, Meta agreed on a settlement.
Part of that settlement included agreeing to make changes to teen social media accounts that will roll out over the next year.
The main changes are:
- A two-hour daily limit across the apps and prompts to pause use after 15, 60 and 90 minutes of use to disrupt endless scrolling.
- No use between midnight and 6 a.m. and notifications muted during school hours.
- The ability to turn off content playing automatically and choose feeds that don’t use algorithms, with occasional reminders of this feature.
- Hiding “like” counts and blocking extreme “beauty” filters.
- Better age verification tech to keep users under 13 off the apps.
Some of these features can be turned off by a parent.
Along with agreeing to the social media changes, Meta also agreed to pay $18 billion (roughly $25 billion CAD) to 48 U.S. states over the next 10 years.
Critics of Meta’s changes say the addictive nature of the app hasn’t been addressed. (Image credit: Katie Collins/Reuters)
Tweaks not good enough, say experts
Experts say the settlement is a huge milestone, but have been critical of the tweaks Meta has agreed to.
Even though there are time limits, for example, some experts say teens are still using something built to be highly addictive.
“It’s one thing to say, ‘Yeah, you only get like two hours of alcohol or two hours of cigarettes a day,’ but it’s still as bad for you because of what’s getting delivered,” said Arturo Béjar, a former Meta engineering director who testified at the trial.
Experts have also been critical that some of the changes have to be turned on by the teens themselves.
“We are disappointed that the settlement does not turn off by default recommendation algorithms that connect kids to predators and send young people down dangerous rabbit holes,” said Josh Golin, executive director of the online safety nonprofit Fairplay, to The Associated Press.
Changes only coming to U.S., for now
For now, Meta’s changes will only apply to teens in the U.S.
But some experts say it probably won’t be long before they come to Canada.
“Historically, whenever technology companies like Meta introduce significant changes to their infrastructure in a certain region, eventually they do go global,” Canadian tech analyst Carmi Levy told CBC News
And even if they don’t, there are other efforts underway to make social media safer for Canadian teens.
Earlier this summer, politicians in Ottawa proposed Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act, which would force social media apps to restrict accounts for users under 16.
You can read more about the proposed law here:
It’s unclear when and if the law will be passed and how long the changes would take to implement once made into law.
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With files from The Associated Press and Jessica Wong/CBC
TOP IMAGE CREDIT: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, graphic design by Krishen Persad
