Meta’s mega-settlement not enough to protect children – former employee

The $17 billion deal with US states resolved claims that Facebook and Instagram were designed to addict minors Meta’s multibillion-dollar settlement with US states over alleged harm to children on social media does not go far enough, a former member of its safety team has told Politico. The agreement, announced last week during a federal trial, resolved claims by California and 28 other states that Meta deliberately designed its Facebook and Instagram platforms to keep minors hooked and misled the public about the risks. It provides for payments of up to $17 billion and imposes new restrictions on users under 18. Arturo Bejar, a former Facebook safety employee and key witness in the case, said in an interview published on Monday that he had spoken to around 40 bereaved parents and that social media had played a meaningful role in their children’s deaths. “These changes would not have saved one of those lives if they had been in place,” he said. “Meta gets to define harm as whatever they define it as, and they get to put it in terms of the things they’re already doing,” Bejar said. Under the settlement, minors will face a default two-hour daily limit across Facebook and Instagram an...