Following the billion-dollar settlement agreement in the lawsuit filed by 29 U.S. states against the media conglomerate Meta, the Science Media Center asked Prof. Dr. Matthias C. Kettemann and other researchers to evaluate the sufficiency of the platforms’ changes in ensuring their non-harmfulness, the potential difficulties of age verification, and the implications of this lawsuit for future litigation, including that from the European Union.
Matthias C. Kettemann: “The settlement is the clearest evidence to date that platform design—and not just content—can be the subject of liability.” However, he adds, “Unlike a judgment, a settlement does not set a precedent and leaves open the central question of whether and to what extent platform design is a causal factor in the mental health issues experienced by young people.”
His full statement is available in German on the Science Media Center’s website.
Background
In a joint class-action lawsuit, 29 U.S. states accused Meta of intentionally designing the Facebook and Instagram platforms in a way that harms children and adolescents and leads to addiction.
Meta has now agreed to a billion-dollar settlement that includes additional safeguards. As part of the settlement, Meta has committed to paying $16.68 billion to the plaintiff states. Additionally, the company has agreed to make fundamental changes to its youth protection measures. The following measures are planned:
- Introducing a two-hour daily usage limit for teenage users
- Pausing notifications between midnight and 6 a.m.
- Disabling extreme beauty filters
- Hiding the number of likes on teenagers’ posts
- Introducing an age verification system with maximum permissible error rates. No more than 10 percent of 16- to 17-year-old accounts may be incorrectly classified as over 18, and no more than 3 percent of 13- to 15-year-old accounts may be incorrectly classified as over 18.