In some instances, remedies secured by the attorneys general are measures that leaked documents showed\u00a0Meta previously considered and rejected after determining them to be relatively inconsequential on both user well-being and business grounds.<\/p>\n
For example, Meta has agreed to hide likes and reaction counts on posts to prevent young users from comparing their posts\u2019 performance with those of peers.<\/p>\n
Such an effort to address \u201cnegative social comparison\u201d dates back to 2019, when Meta considered adopting the measure to address its researchers\u2019 concerns that social media might be harming teenagers\u2019 mental health.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t Meta\u2019s tests on the effects of hiding like counts, known as \u201cProject Daisy,\u201d found that the change had at most a modest impact on users\u2019 experience.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t observe movements in overall well-being measures,\u201d Facebook employees wrote in a 2020 slide presentation to Mark Zuckerberg.<\/p>\n The effects on Meta\u2019s business were similarly slight, with tests showing that daily user\u00a0count would likely fall by around 0.09% if the change was adopted.<\/p>\n Meta ultimately allowed users to hide like counts as an opt-in feature.<\/p>\n Mixed reaction<\/p>\n Youth safety concerns about Meta\u2019s products have been raised for years, with some of the most concerning material emerging from internal Meta research leaked by employees or obtained via legal discovery.<\/p>\n Broadly, Meta\u2019s researchers have internally flagged algorithms\u2019 tendency to recommend high doses of fitness and beauty content to teens with existing self-esteem issues and the intentional design of features that keep young users scrolling longer than they would independently choose. (READ: Teens a \u2018top priority\u2019: Documents show Facebook, platforms\u2019 efforts to hook young users<\/a>)<\/p>\n Other concerns focused on shortfalls in Meta\u2019s handling of user reports and moderation of inappropriate content. Bejar, for example, oversaw work at Meta that concluded that users had bad experiences on Meta\u2019s platforms at rates greater than the company\u2019s official prevalence estimates.<\/p>\n Such allegations were central to the states\u2019 case against Meta, but they are addressed only glancingly in the settlement. Instead, the remedies\u00a0cited by the attorneys general focus on greater parental controls, time limits and boosting efforts to detect minors misrepresenting themselves as adults.<\/p>\n Meta\u2019s ability to identify and remove underage users is itself far from guaranteed as users self-report their ages. In\u00a0Australia, where the government banned social media use by teenagers under age 16, regulators have found that\u00a0eight in 10 young teens\u00a0remain on social media, prompting\u00a0authorities\u00a0to consider additional enforcement.<\/p>\n Reaction\u00a0from teen mental health experts to the settlement was mixed. Dr. Jane Conron, a clinical psychologist at Northwestern University\u2019s Feinberg School of Medicine,\u00a0said the settlement only requires Meta to offer a non-algorithmically curated social media feed to teens on an opt-in basis, a feature she predicted would go largely unused.<\/p>\n However,\u00a0the settlement\u2019s requirement that Meta cap the number of hours teens spend on Instagram and Facebook each day could be meaningful for some users, she said.<\/p>\n Some of her\u00a0young patients\u00a0are so \u201cemotionally overwhelmed by leaving the app\u201d that they cry when their parents attempt to restrict how much time they spend on it, Conron said. A built-in usage limit \u201cwill help,\u201d she said, adding that she believes the settlement might also change the conversation around social media between teens and their parents.<\/p>\n While the deal\u00a0did not require Meta to acknowledge fault\u00a0or accept the claim that it built harmful products, Conron saw its existence as significant.<\/p>\n \u201cI see changes because people will realize the gravity of the problem,\u201d she said. \u2013 Rappler.com<\/p>\n
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