Two hours a day, hidden likes and parental controls: what will change in Instagram and Facebook for children

Meta has agreed to an $18 billion settlement in a case involving allegations of violating children's rights and improperly handling their personal data.

Under the agreement, the owner of Instagram and Facebook will have to make large-scale changes to how the social networks operate for underage users. The new rules will affect the length of time the platforms are used, notifications, recommendations, the display of likes, private messages, parental controls, and the methods for determining users' ages.

One of the most noticeable innovations will be a limit on the time spent using the platforms. For users under 18, a daily limit of two hours will be set by default. A teenager will not be able to increase the allowed time on their own, and the settings can be changed by parents using parental control tools. In addition, every 15 minutes the system will remind the user to take a break.

At the same time, private correspondence will not be included in the established two-hour limit. A teenager will be able to continue using the messaging feature even after the main time for using the social network has been exhausted.

Separate restrictions will apply during nighttime and school hours. From midnight to six in the morning, a special night mode is provided for teen accounts. During this period, use of the platforms will be limited in order to reduce nighttime activity and lower the likelihood that social networks will interfere with a full night's sleep.

On school days, notifications will be turned off from eight in the morning to three in the afternoon. In this way, Meta intends to reduce the number of distracting signals during school classes. Most of the changes provided for by the agreement must be implemented within six months; some features will become default settings, while others will be available as additional options.

The changes will also affect the mechanics of interacting with posts. Teenagers will no longer see the number of likes and other reactions under posts. At the same time, the ability to give likes and react to publications will remain. The restriction is aimed at reducing the importance of content popularity metrics and lowering the pressure associated with constantly comparing one's own activity with that of other users.

Meta also plans to limit teenagers' use of filters that are designed to alter appearance. In addition, users will be able to turn off automatic video playback themselves. Another option will be the choice of a feed that is not built exclusively on the basis of algorithmic recommendations.

A separate block of changes involves parental controls. Adults will be able to receive more information about a minor's activity and, if necessary, adjust the settings of their account. Using these capabilities will require the consent of both the parent and the teenager.

In particular, parents will be able to track how much time their child spends on Instagram or Facebook, as well as receive information about the users with whom they communicate. Additional notifications will be related to potentially dangerous situations. The system must inform parents if a minor sends a message to a user over the age of 18.

Searches on topics that may indicate problems with a teenager's psychological state will be tracked separately. Parents will be able to receive notifications if their child searches for information related to suicide, self-harm, or eating disorders.

Another area of work will be improving age determination technologies. Meta has agreed to participate in developing an industry standard that should help social platforms determine users' ages more accurately. The need for such mechanisms stems from the fact that teenagers can provide an inaccurate date of birth when registering and thereby bypass age restrictions.

The new age verification system must regularly undergo independent auditing. For users between the ages of 13 and 15, a false positive rate of no more than three percent is stipulated, and for teenagers aged 16 to 17 — no more than ten percent. Meta stated that it will invest in the further development of age verification technologies.

Thus, the agreement provides for a comprehensive change to the teen mode in Instagram and Facebook. In addition to limiting screen time, the company is changing the operation of notifications, algorithmic recommendations, visual tools, and the content interaction system. At the same time, parents' capabilities to control their children's activity are being expanded, and Meta itself is taking on additional obligations regarding determining users' ages.

Source: Aljazeera