Instagram and Facebook parent Meta on Wednesday agreed to make changes for teen users of its platforms after settling a massive child addiction case in the US.
Meta has agreed to pay a maximum of $16.68 billion to settle the high-profile California federal trial brought on by as many as 29 US states.
The states had alleged that its algorithms addicted children, misled them and their parents about their safety, and improperly collected and handled their personal data.
However, the tech giant has still denied wrongdoing in its settlement. Notably, Meta has long argued that since "social media addiction" is not a recognised psychiatric condition, its social media algorithms could not have misled netizens.
Nevertheless, the settlement now allows it avoid waves of trials alleging that Meta was one among a number of social media companies fuelling a youth mental health crisis in the country.
The first of these new nationwide changes are strict, default daily usage limits on teen accounts, a Reuters report said, citing court filings. This includes blocks during school hours and at night.
Another new change will be better tools to prevent children from accessing age-restricted content.
The filing added that a third change was enhanced age assurance measures, with a stated aim to keep children off the apps as much as possible, while the fourth change involves better tools for parents and guardians to monitor their children's social media accounts.
The Wednesday settlement also covered claims from US states such as California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey, which alleged that Meta had violated their state laws protecting consumers.
It also resolves lawsuits from states like California, Illinois, Washington, D.C., and New Mexico over privacy claims related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which saw the consulting firm allegedly collect personal data of millions of Facebook users.
