Latest / THE DAILY BRIEF / Meta settlement opens new front in global fight over social media harm

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Meta settlement opens new front in global fight over social media harm · THE DAILY BRIEF

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Countries around the world are urging Meta to expand social
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: media protections for children following the company's $ 18 billion settlement
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: in the United States. Media regulators in South Korea say
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: that the sweeping changes to Facebook and Instagram in the U.S.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: should be applied worldwide and not just in a single market.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Meta agreed to a raft of measures to counter social
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: media addiction. They include restricting the time that young users
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: spend online and ditching the standard algorithmic feed to a
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: chronological one. The EU has already ordered Meta to make
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: its platform safer for children or face heavy fines. It's
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  Speaker 1: now expecting action after the settlement in the US.
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  Speaker 2: It is for Meta. to come up with commitments and
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  Speaker 2: to offer commitments here in the European Union to protect
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: our kids from their addictive design. So the ball is
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: in Meta's court. Now, we have been very clear also
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: when we came up with the preliminary findings last month,
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  Speaker 2: we expect indeed proper screen time management, we expect proper
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: parental control on these platforms, so indeed Meta knows what
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: we are expecting from them. Now it is for the
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: company to offer these commitments in the European Union to
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  Speaker 2: protect our kids here too.
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  Speaker 1: And we're joined now by Anna Alcheck, business and tech
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  Speaker 1: reporter at Business Insider in New York City. So, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: these changes in the United States, they go further than
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: anything Meta has agreed to before for child protection. Could
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: we expect similar changes to its platforms in Europe and beyond?
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely. I mean, this is, like you said, definitely
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: the biggest change that we've seen. And now that Europe
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: sees that Meta can structurally make these changes, and add
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: these types of restrictions, it definitely gives the European Union
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: leverage to ask META to make the same changes in
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  Speaker 3: Europe as well. So this is kind of setting the
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: precedent for META to enact the same changes in Europe.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: And we understand that last month, the EU found META
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: to be in breach of its legislation, the Digital Services Act,
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: one of several laws aimed at reining in big tech
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: in the EU. And still, The EU is waiting for
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: Meta to address its concerns about risks for children. We
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: just heard the European Commission spokesperson saying that the ball
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: is in Meta's court. Does the U.S. settlement suggest that
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: litigation and financial liability can actually force tech companies to
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: change faster than regulation does?
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it definitely is suggesting that. And that's what we're
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: seeing right now. And now that Meta has you know,
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: made this settlement, it also adds pressure to other companies,
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  Speaker 3: other social media giants like TikTok and YouTube to make
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  Speaker 3: similar changes. So this is definitely, you know, the first
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: instance we're seeing of something this large. And so this
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: will definitely, you know, push things forward further. You know,
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: I'm guessing in the next six months or a year,
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: we'll start to see other types of changes along these lines.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: The EU has ordered Meta to propose ways to make
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: its platform safer for children. And if it fails to
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  Speaker 1: address the concerns, the EU can, in theory, impose a
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: fine of up to 6% of the company's total worldwide
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: annual turnover. I mean, you have a sense of what
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: the pressure points might be for Meta. Is that enough
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: pressure for the tech giant, or would that sum have
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: to be larger?
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  Speaker 3: I mean, Meta can definitely absorb, you know, those types
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: of fines. It produces billions and billions of dollars every year.
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: But with that being said, I mean, that can certainly
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: add a strain. And we know that, you know, it's
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: making big investments in other areas right now. So we'll
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: have to see if that's enough pressure. Certainly the company
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: is big enough to handle it, but that is a
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: decent number, decent percentage.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: With it coming under increased scrutiny, what do you think
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  Speaker 1: the future of features that have been so highly criticized,
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: such as, you know, I'm thinking infinite scroll, auto pay,
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  Speaker 1: personalized recommendations, what do you think the future of those are,
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: not only for children, but also more broadly for the platforms?
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: I think it's gotten to a point where, you know,
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  Speaker 3: people have spoken out about this now quite a bit
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  Speaker 3: for several years. We're seeing that there is real damage
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: that can come from these apps. And so now that
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: we're finally seeing Meta make these big changes, and Meta
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: is one of the major giants in the social media world,
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: now that we're seeing these changes, it's kind of out there.
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  Speaker 3: And I expect that more changes along these lines will
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: be made over time. Of course, that definitely compromises the
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  Speaker 3: nature of how these apps are run, and it could
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: impact add revenue and all of that. But this is
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  Speaker 3: really what the people want. I mean, people are speaking
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: out against social media. There have been hundreds and thousands
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: of lawsuits against social media companies. So the direction we're
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: going in seems like people are really wanting more restrictions
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: on these types of platforms. And we're starting to see them.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: Do you expect that we'll end up with one version
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: of Facebook or Instagram for kids around the world or
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: multiple versions? Which direction do you see this maybe going in?
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's unlikely that there would be different
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  Speaker 3: apps or different brands for these types of platforms. But
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  Speaker 3: we're definitely seeing, I mean, there are these teen versions now.
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  Speaker 3: And so I think more and more that will probably
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  Speaker 3: be the case. especially if there continues to be more restrictions.
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: I think it would make sense for there to be
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: differentiated versions of these types of platforms. And we're subtly
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: seeing that at this point. It's not big time. But
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  Speaker 3: if other social media giants also start to roll out
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  Speaker 3: these changes, I think it would make sense along the
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  Speaker 3: lines for there to be somewhat different versions, even if
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  Speaker 3: it's not a completely different app, obviously.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: If you were a meta-executive and you were looking at
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  Speaker 1: the business and possibly crossing hairs with regulators or attorneys general,
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: what would be concerning you more? These multi-billion dollar fines
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: that we're seeing now or regulators starting to dictate how
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: the platforms can be designed?
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  Speaker 3: I mean, I think the design of the platform is
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  Speaker 3: crucial for these companies. That dictates how much time people
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  Speaker 3: are spending on the platform how invested they are in
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  Speaker 3: these platforms, how many connections they're building there. So if
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: you change the design of these products, that does alter
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: how people are spending their time on them, how much
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: time people are spending on them. And, you know, that
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  Speaker 3: could impact ad revenue and all that type of stuff.
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  Speaker 3: So I think the fines, while they're not ideal and,
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: you know, no company wants to pay those types of fines,
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  Speaker 3: especially as they're investing big in other areas. But the
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: Changing the algorithm and changing how the product functions definitely
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: poses more of a long-term risk for its audience and
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: its ad revenue and all of that. So I would
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: say that's the bigger concern.
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: Anna Elchek, business and tech reporter at Business Insider, joining
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  Speaker 1: us from New York City. Thank you.
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: Thanks for having me.