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Meta urges TikTok, YouTube to join efforts protecting teens online

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Meta has publicly called on competitors TikTok and YouTube to adopt similar measures for protecting teenagers online.
  • The company agreed to implement new user restrictions for minors on Facebook and Instagram as part of a settlement with U.S. state governments.
  • Meta argues that these protections are only truly effective when applied across all platforms, citing the risk of teens simply moving to other apps if restrictions are not uniform.

Meta Platforms, having recently agreed to implement new restrictions on teenage social media use in a settlement with U.S. state governments, is now publicly urging its competitors, TikTok and YouTube, to join these efforts. The company is seeking to establish a new industry standard for youth protection online.

We want teenagers to benefit from new industry standards, but we cannot achieve this alone.

— MetaStated in an open letter published in national newspapers, urging competitors to adopt youth protection measures.

Meta placed full-page advertisements in national newspapers, including The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, on August 28th. The open letter detailed the measures Meta will introduce on Facebook and Instagram, such as limiting daily usage to two hours, blocking app access at night, muting notifications during school hours, and enhancing parental supervision tools. Meta emphasized that these protections, agreed upon with state governments, should be adopted by rival platforms to be truly effective.

"We want teenagers to benefit from new industry standards, but we cannot achieve this alone," Meta stated in the letter. "These protections will only be truly effective when competitors like TikTok and YouTube adopt the same measures." The company stressed the importance of empowering parents and supporting teenagers collectively, noting that "if one app imposes restrictions, teenagers will simply move to another app." Meta is calling for collaboration to achieve meaningful progress.

These protections will only be truly effective when competitors like TikTok and YouTube adopt the same measures.

— MetaExplaining the rationale behind their public appeal for industry-wide adoption of youth online safety standards.

The move by Meta appears to be partly driven by a desire to retain users and advertising revenue. The company agreed to pay approximately $16.7 billion (about 23.1 trillion won) in a settlement with state governments, facing accusations of causing teenage social media addiction. The settlement includes provisions that could alter the additional payment if TikTok and YouTube adopt similar youth protection measures. The effectiveness of Meta's appeal remains uncertain, as YouTube and TikTok have not yet officially responded to the proposal.

If one app imposes restrictions, teenagers will simply move to another app.

— MetaHighlighting the necessity of uniform restrictions across platforms to prevent users from migrating to less regulated services.
About this summary

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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