Meta’s ‘Big Tobacco moment’ leaves parents asking if social media is too dangerous for kids
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media → leave → kids
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- Meta agreed to a landmark settlement worth up to $17 billion, promising new safeguards on Facebook and Instagram after states alleged that the platforms were engineered to addict and harm kids.
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platforms → click → kids
New rules include default two-hour daily limits, a midnight-to-6 a.m. Night Access Mode, muted school-time notifications and curbs on filters, autoplay and algorithmic feeds, all requiring parental overrides.
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all → include → overrides
- Parents and experts say the deal is only a first step amid rising teen depression and suicide, failed age bans abroad and mounting pressure on TikTok, YouTube and lawmakers.
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deal → say → TikTok
Over the last five years, efforts to make social networks Facebook and Instagram safer for young people have erupted across courts, classrooms and capitals.
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Facebook → make → courts
Now Meta Platforms, the parent company of the world’s most popular social networks, faces another big moment of reckoning.
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Platforms → face → reckoning
On Wednesday, Meta agreed to pay up to $17 billion over 10 years and make changes to Facebook and Instagram to try to make the platforms safer for teens and those younger.
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platforms → agree → teens
The settlement would resolve a multistate lawsuit that alleged Meta designed and deployed addictive features that harmed young people and misled the public about the potential dangers.
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that → resolve → dangers
Meta has agreed to pay $17 billion and add child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms to end a landmark trial over teen social media addiction and settle claims filed by 47 states
Although politicians, advocacy groups and others applauded the settlement, the battle over child safety is far from over.
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battle → agree → safety
Many are worried that social media continues to increase the risks of depression, anxiety, eating disorders, bullying and other harms.
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media → worry → depression
“This is an industrywide problem,” California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said at a news conference Wednesday.
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Bonta → say → conference
“Meta is part of the industry, a major player in the industry, but there’s a bigger, bigger ecosystem.”
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Meta → ’ → industry
Shielding children from harm on social media is complex, as teens use the platforms to chat with family and friends as well as for entertainment.
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teens → shield → entertainment
Meanwhile, tech industry groups have sued to stop the enforcement of new child safety laws.
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groups → sue → laws
Every day, the technology continues to evolve, introducing new ways for people to interact with online content.
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people → continue → content
It is still unclear whether artificial intelligence will do more to help or hinder efforts to create a healthier relationship with technology.
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intelligence → do → technology
“These are really difficult problems to solve, and no country, state, school, or family has figured it all out,” said Bethany Teachman, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia.
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Teachman → solve → Virginia
Among other changes outlined in the settlement, Meta said it would have a default two-hour daily time limit that teens can turn off only with parental permission, mute notifications during school hours and implement a Night Access Mode that blocks its apps from midnight to 6 a.m.
Some parents who say they lost their children because of social media say the restrictions could help.
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restrictions → outline → media
South Carolina Rep. Brandon Guffey’s 17-year-old son Gavin died by suicide in 2022 after becoming a victim of online sextortion on Instagram.
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son → die → Instagram
What began as a flirtatious game of truth or dare initiated by an unknown account quickly spiraled into extortion.
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began → begin → extortion
Scammers received nude photos and subsequently demanded money, driving the teenager to take his own life.
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Scammers → receive → life
Suicide prevention and crisis counseling resources
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, seek help from a professional or call 988.
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you → know → 988
The nationwide three-digit mental health crisis hotline will connect callers with trained mental health counselors.
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hotline → connect → counselors
“My son was contacted at midnight on July 27, and by 1:40 a.m. he had taken his life.
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he → contact → life
So if it was shut off at midnight, then he would still be here,” Guffey said.
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Guffey → shut → midnight
Nighttime restrictions, he said, would have given him more time to have a daytime conversation with his teenager.
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he → say → teenager
After his son’s death, the Republican lawmaker spearheaded legislation in 2023 that made sexual extortion a felony offense in South Carolina and has advocated for online safety.
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extortion → spearhead → safety
A narrow focus on screen time or social media restrictions alone isn’t enough, Teachman said.
“The real goal is to improve youth healthy development, and when we look at the biggest predictors of young people’s mental health, screen time is not one of the big ones,” Teachman said.
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Teachman → say → ones
Although social media platforms say they’re focused on protecting young people, they’ve been repeatedly accused of putting profits ahead of safety.
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they → say → safety
Meta said it would put stronger protections in place and pay more money if its rivals TikTok and YouTube jump on board.
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rivals → say → board
Meta said it would reduce the default time limit from two hours to one hour if TikTok and YouTube do the same “because teens move fluidly across dozens of apps.”
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teens → say → apps
TikTok and YouTube didn’t respond to a request for comment.
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TikTok → respond → comment
The settlement would include protections beyond screen-time limits.
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settlement → include → limits
Teens wouldn’t be able to use extreme makeup filters.
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Teens → use → filters
They would be able to prevent videos from automatically playing and choose a social media feed that doesn’t display recommended content.
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that → prevent → content
Australia became the first major Western nation to ban social media use for those under 16.
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Australia → become → 16
But one early research study published in June shows the ban, which took effect in December 2025, has been ineffective.
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which → publish → December
Meta said in August that it removed access to more than 750,000 accounts on Facebook and Instagram in Australia that belonged to people under age 16.
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that → say → age
“Enforcement is ongoing, and these numbers will continue to grow,” Meta said in a blog post about the Australia ban.
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Meta → continue → ban
Although some under-16 accounts were initially deleted, Teachman said, children figured out ways to bypass age-verification checks.
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children → delete → checks
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
