Why Meta's 'big tobacco moment' in US might not flow to Australia
Meta's landmark court settlement is being hailed by some as social media's "big tobacco moment", but there is no guarantee Australians will benefit from the safety measures it has agreed to.
The settlement marks the first time Meta has been forced to change key features of its main apps in the US. ( Reuters: Dado Ruvic/Illustration )
Meta's landmark court settlement is being hailed by some as social media's "big tobacco moment", but there is no guarantee Australians will benefit from the safety measures the tech giant has agreed to.
The $2 trillion company, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has just settled a suit with 29 US states .
It agreed to pay a record fine of $23.6 billion over 10 years — the largest payout of its kind for a social media company.
The settlement also marks the first time the company has been forced to change key features of its main apps, Facebook and Instagram, in the US.
Meta agreed to new default settings for under-18 users, including:
Meta has agreed to pay record settlement and change both Facebook and Instagram for US teens. ( Reuters: Mike Blake )
Teens in the US will also have the choice to switch to a chronological feed and ditch the algorithm designed to keep them scrolling longer.
The agreement came within the first week of a two-month trial alleging Meta's platforms were intentionally designed to addict young users.
"We've seen a number of different lawsuits that have gone against Meta in the last number of months," Lisa Given, professor of information sciences at RMIT, said.
"So I think they saw the writing on the wall."
Lisa Given says Meta has been struggling in the courts recently. ( ABC News: Patrick Stone )
The news has been welcomed by some Australian parents.
"The reckoning is happening before our eyes after 15 years of … I guess you would call it a free-for-all," Dany Elachi said.
Mr Elachi, from the Heads Up Alliance, a parent group focused on children's online safety, was sceptical Meta would follow through on everything it promised, but hopeful Australian kids would ultimately benefit.
"Meta has been forced into a position where they've had to make undertakings to make their platforms safer," he said.
"We just hope that at some point they will just have to throw their hands up."
Experts were less certain the effects would reach Australian shores.
"There's no requirement under this court case for things to change in Australia," Johanna Weaver, executive director of the Tech Policy Design Institute, said.
"Traditionally they roll out region by region and it doesn't mean that Australia will necessarily be top of the list."
While she agreed the settlement was groundbreaking, Professor Weaver said it was still a path Meta helped design for itself.
"There is no finding against Meta in this, there is no acceptance of liability," she said.
"And so it's actually quite a smart move [on] Meta's part to settle.
Johanna Weaver says nothing is certain to change in Australia. ( ABC News: Billy Cooper )
Professor Given said the changes Meta made to its platforms were likely changes the company was "comfortable" making.
But she was more optimistic the changes would ultimately be made global.
"Partly because they want to avoid court cases in future," she said.
"If they only apply this within the United States, then cases could crop up in Australia and other places."
Wherever Meta makes changes that apply only to teens, their efficacy will depend on whether the company can determine which of its users are under 18.
Professor Given said Australia's teen social media ban demonstrated it was still not able to do that in most cases.
"We've seen many kids that are still on the platforms — over 80 per cent of kids [are] still accessing social media content."
The agreement came within the first week of a two-month trial alleging Meta's platforms were deliberately designed to be addictive for young users. ( Reuters: Francis Mascarenhas )
Meta is yet to face any fines for non-compliance with the policy, which has been touted by the Australian government for its role sparking similar change in 20 other jurisdictions.
Mr Elachi said the effect of combined international pressure should not be ignored.
"What we did in Australia a couple of years ago in passing legislation to create a minimum age has had reverberations around the world," he said.
"I believe all these things that are happening in tandem are all contributing to Meta and other social media companies having to listen to the demands of parents."