Recently Reuter reported the following:
Meta agrees to pay $18 billion to settle US lawsuits over
children's social media addiction (1/2)
Reuter - By Diana Novak Jones, Jonathan Stempel and Greg
Bensinger
August 26, 20268:20 AM PDT. Updated 9 hours ago
(Summary:
Meta tightens safeguards for children, limits usage, denies
wrongdoing.
Accord wins court approval, could be a template for other
social media companies.
States were expected to seek close to $200 billion in
penalties.)
OAKLAND, California, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms
(META.O) will pay up to $18 billion over the next decade and strictly limit how
teenagers use Facebook and Instagram under an agreement with nearly all U.S.
states to resolve claims it designed those social media platforms to addict
children.
The settlements announced on Wednesday end a federal trial
over allegations Meta's products harmed children and the company misled the
public about their safety. Four of the states — California, Colorado, Kentucky
and New Jersey — were expected to seek close to $200 billion in civil penalties.
While Meta will not undergo a fundamental overhaul, the
accords represent a sweeping effort to define how it serves young users.
It could provide a template for resolving thousands of other
lawsuits against social media companies. Governments around the world are
trying to curb children's access to harmful online content, including a ban in
Australia on social media for children under 16.
“The focus of this case was to protect our kids,"
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a statement. "The relief we
are getting in this settlement is very meaningful and well beyond what any
court has ordered or is likely to order."
Meta agreed over the next decade to restrict teenagers' use
of Facebook and Instagram to two hours a day and block all usage from midnight
to 6 a.m., absent parental consent.
These limits could be tightened if the social media
platforms Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube adopt similar terms. Meta will also
disable most push notifications to teenage users during school hours of 8 a.m.
to 3 p.m. and enhance measures to prevent children from accessing
age-restricted content.
The settlement does not require Meta to abandon personalized
recommendations or targeted advertising. It also does not address
some content Meta researchers found particularly problematic, including posts
that made Instagram users uncomfortable with their body image.
Meta denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle. The total
payout represents about three to four months of profit and about one month of
revenue for Meta.
"Ensuring teens have a safe and productive experience
on our platforms is an absolute imperative for Meta," the Menlo Park,
California-based company said in a blog post. "We want to get this right
for parents and teens."
Meta shares rose as much as 4.1%, and closed up 1.1%.
CHANGING THE ONLINE EXPERIENCE
Meta agreed to make maximum payments of about $16.7 billion
to 47 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the
Northern Mariana Islands.
California could receive a $2.2 billion payout, while New
York could receive $1.1 billion. Texas reached a separate settlement worth more
than $1 billion.
Some states will deposit funds in general accounts, while
others will earmark portions to address children's mental health.
"This is a big deal," said James Speta, a
Northwestern University law professor who specializes in telecommunications and
internet policy.
"Meta and other companies were facing pressure to
change business practices whether or not they lost the lawsuits, from the
public and from Congress and state legislatures," he continued.
"These restrictions will change the experience on Instagram and Facebook,
and they are designed to reduce engagement."
The settlement includes guaranteed payments of about $12.7
billion, with another $5 billion contingent on whether Snap Inc's (SNAP.N),
opens new tab Snapchat, ByteDance's TikTok and Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new
tab YouTube impose similar protections for children.
Those companies were not immediately available for comment.
Meta plans to publish a letter on Thursday in national newspapers to push
TikTok and YouTube to improve protections for children. A Meta spokesperson
said the company was "hopeful" Snap would make similar changes.
(to be continued)
Translation
Meta同意支付180億美元，以和解美國關於兒童社交媒體成癮的訴訟（1/2）
（摘要：Meta會加強對兒童的安全保障，限制其使用，否認過去有不當行為;
和解協議獲法院批准，或將成為其他社交媒體公司的模式;
各州預計將尋求近2,000億美元的罰款）
週三宣佈的和解協議結束了一項聯邦審判，該審判指控Meta的產品傷害了兒童，及該公司就兒童安全問題誤導了公眾。預計加州、科羅拉多州、肯塔基州和新澤西州這四個州將尋求近2,000億美元的民事罰款。
雖然Meta不會進行根本性的改革，但這些協議代表著一項旨在明確其服務年輕用戶方式的全面努力。
這可能為解決針對社交媒體公司的數千件其他訴訟提供範本。世界各國政府都在努力限制兒童接觸有害的網絡內容，例如澳洲禁止16歲以下兒童使用社交媒體。
科羅拉多州總檢察長Phil Weiser在一份聲明中表示：“本案的重點是保護我們的孩子。我們在這項和解協議中獲得的補償意義重大，遠遠超出任何法院已經或可能作出的裁決。”
Meta 同意在未來十年內將青少年使用 Facebook和Instagram 的時間限制在每天兩小時以內，並在午夜至凌晨6點之間禁止所有未經家長同意的使用。
如果社交媒體平台 Snapchat、TikTok 和 YouTube 也採用類似的條款，這些限制可能會進一步收緊。 Meta 還將在上午 8 點至下午 3 點的上課時間禁用向青少年用戶推送的大部分通知，並加強措施防止兒童訪問受年齡限制的內容。
和解協議並未要求Meta放棄個人化推薦或定向廣告。它也沒有解決Meta研究人員發現的一些特別有問題的內容，包括一些讓 Instagram 用戶對自己體形感到不滿的貼文。
Meta在同意和解時否認有不當行為。和解金額相當於 Meta 大約三到四個月的利潤或一個月的收入。
這家總部位於加州 Menlo
Park 的公司在一篇部落格文章中表示：“確保青少年在我們平台上擁有安全且有益的體驗是 Meta 的絕對要務。我們希望為家長和青少年提供最佳體驗。”
Meta 股價一度上漲4.1%，最終收漲1.1%。
改變上網的體驗
加州可能獲得
22 億美元的賠償，紐約州可能獲得
11 億美元。德州達成了一項價值超過
10 億美元的單獨和解協議。
有些州會將資金存入一般帳戶，而有些州則會指定部分資金用於解決兒童心理健康問題。
西北大學專門研究電信和網絡政策的法學教授 James Speta 說:「這是意義重大」。
他說:「無論 Meta 和其他公司是否敗訴，他們都面臨來自公眾、國會和州議會的壓力，要求他們改變商業行為」; 他繼續說: 「這些限制將改變 Instagram 和 Facebook 的用戶體驗，其目的在於降低用戶參與度」。
和解協議包括約127億美元的擔保付款，另有50億美元取決於 Snap Inc.（SNAP.N）旗下的 Snapchat、字節跳動旗下的 TikTok，以及 Alphabet (GOOGL.O) 旗下的 YouTube，是否也會實施類似的兒童保護措施。
這些公司暫未對此置評。
Meta 計劃於週四在全國性報紙上刊登一封公開信，敦促TikTok和YouTube加強對兒童的保護。
Meta發言人表示，該公司「希望」Snap 也能做出類似的改變。
（待續）
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