{"id":3959,"date":"2026-08-20T17:34:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T17:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3959"},"modified":"2026-08-20T17:34:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T17:34:20","slug":"meta-defends-its-child-safety-efforts-but-critics-say-the-social-media-giant-falls-short","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3959","title":{"rendered":"Meta defends its child safety efforts but critics say the social media giant falls short"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…<\/strong><\/div>\n
\n

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS, AP Business Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n

CHICAGO (AP) \u2014 Meta insists it has a long history of protecting its youngest customers as it defends itself against a swath of lawsuits alleging its social media empire harms children.<\/p>\n

Read more Denver among Democrats\u2019 3 potential sites for 2028 presidential convention<\/a><\/p>\n

In the latest such instance, the social media giant is fighting allegations in a California federal court that it contributes to the youth mental health crisis by deliberately and stealthily designing features to get children hooked on its platforms Instagram and Facebook. Four states are seeking billions of dollars in damages as well as fundamental changes to how Meta runs those apps.<\/p>\n

Children\u2019s mental health, and what they do and see on social media, are all issues \u201cMeta takes seriously and tries to act on,\u201d Paul Schmidt, a lawyer for the tech giant, said in opening statements this week.<\/p>\n

Critics say the company\u2019s safety record falls short and that many of its protections simply don\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

They include Marc Berkman, executive director at the Organization for Social Media Safety, who said Meta introduced safeguards promising to protect children in response to public pressure rather than out of concern.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s been a \u201clack of real institutional willingness to act here,\u201d Berkman said.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look at some of the changes Meta has introduced, along with the work advocates say could still be done.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Access to users and content-focused protections<\/h4>\n

Most of the changes Meta has introduced focus on addressing harassment and offensive content.<\/p>\n

Instagram users have always been able to block others \u2014 and, along with Meta\u2019s oldest crown jewel, Facebook \u2014 the app has gradually added features for reporting problematic accounts and inappropriate content.<\/p>\n

In 2016, Instagram users were given the option to delete or filter comments they found offensive, and later added warnings that prompted users to reconsider posting potentially harmful content, as well as options to limit comments and tags on their posts.<\/p>\n

Meta also says it prevents adults from starting private chats with teens if they are not already connected, and has increased checks to make sure users under 13 \u2014 the minimum age for holding a Facebook or Instagram account \u2014 aren\u2019t online. Schmidt said in his opening remarks that Meta recognizes some users still sign up using incorrect birthdays but that the company takes enforcement of age limits seriously.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The company says it also posts warnings and resources at the top of Instagram search results related to suicide, self-harm and eating disorders, and touts its \u201cTeen Accounts,\u201d launched in 2024, as a safe space for teenagers online. It aligns photo and video restrictions for teen accounts with those for a PG-13 movie, unless there\u2019s parental permission otherwise.<\/p>\n

Read more Pressure builds anew in the bond market as Walmart drags the US stock market lower<\/a><\/p>\n

Critics complain these changes amount to little more than corporate posturing.<\/p>\n

A September 2025 report from former employee and whistleblower Arturo B\u00e9jar and four online safety advocacy nonprofits accused Meta of not taking \u201creal steps\u201d to address youth safety, instead opting for \u201csplashy headlines about new tools for parents and Instagram Teen Accounts for underage users.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really found that overall what Meta was marketing under Teen Accounts was very lacking in actual protections,\u201d said Haley Hinkle, policy counsel at Fairplay, which co-authored the report. They evaluated 47 of Meta\u2019s 53 safety features for teens on Instagram and found 60% of them were either not available or didn\u2019t work as advertised, Hinkle said.<\/p>\n

Meta called the report\u2019s findings \u201cmisleading\u201d and \u201cdangerously speculative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scrolling and core design<\/h4>\n

Researchers say Meta\u2019s efforts to reduce the risk of children becoming addicted to the scrolling features of social media platforms have been largely unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

Ashley Shea, a Ph.D. candidate specializing in social media and online spaces at Cornell University, points to what academics call \u201cattention-capture deceptive designs\u201d that are not exclusive to Meta\u2019s platforms. They include infinite scrolling, \u201ccasino style\u201d pulls to refresh content, push notifications and algorithmic recommendations. Those features \u201cprey on the cognitive vulnerabilities\u201d of young people with developing brains, in particular the need to feel rewarded.<\/p>\n

Meta has taken important steps to address problematic content, cyberbullies and sexual predators, Shea said, but she has not seen the same level of effort to offset the addictive impact of attention-capture deceptive designs.<\/p>\n

Nudges and time management controls<\/h4>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no question that some teens struggle to manage their time with social media,\u201d Schmidt said Tuesday, adding that Meta\u2019s time management tools prove its evolution on the issue. Those tools include parental supervision controls and in-app \u201cnudges\u201d for teen users who repeatedly look at the same type of content or spend too long on Instagram or Facebook late at night.<\/p>\n

Hinkle notes the \u201centirely voluntary\u201d time management tools are not easy to set up, and amount to \u201cfar too little too late.\u201d<\/p>\n

B\u00e9jar, the former Meta employee and whistleblower, agrees. In testimony Wednesday, he said a tool called \u201cTake a Break\u201d is \u201cdesigned to fail.\u201d Users have to turn the feature on themselves and, he said, very few do.<\/p>\n

Across the board, tech companies exist to maximize revenue, said Berkman, and for almost every social media platform today, that means \u201cmaximizing children using their features for as long as they can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Legal challenges focused on \u201cthe fact that these are defective products by design because of their features, not the content per se\u201d is something new, Shea added. And beyond the courtroom, mounting pressure on lawmakers could bring more industrywide changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe momentum only continues to grow,\u201d she said. \u201cUltimately, these are for-profit companies that respond to economic pressures. And so I think that the more economic pressure they\u2019re confronted with through these litigations, the quicker they will have to adapt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Trump team\u2019s use of arcane budget rule threatens Medicaid coverage<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meta is defending itself in a California federal court against allegations that its social media business poses harms to children and teenagers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3958,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\nMeta defends its child safety efforts but critics say the social media giant falls short - Colorado Springs Moverss<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3959\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meta defends its child safety efforts but critics say the social media giant falls short - Colorado Springs Moverss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Meta is defending itself in a California federal court against allegations that its social media business poses harms to children and teenagers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3959\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colorado Springs Moverss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-20T17:34:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3959#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3959\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c\"},\"headline\":\"Meta defends its child safety efforts but critics say the social media giant falls short\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-20T17:34:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3959\"},\"wordCount\":993,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3959#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/59e98aca9454eef875f43dab0def3a77.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Business\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3959#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3959\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3959\",\"name\":\"Meta defends its child safety efforts but critics say the social media giant falls short - Colorado Springs Moverss\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3959#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3959#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/59e98aca9454eef875f43dab0def3a77.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-20T17:34:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3959#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3959\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3959#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/59e98aca9454eef875f43dab0def3a77.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/59e98aca9454eef875f43dab0def3a77.webp\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1333},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3959#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Meta defends its child safety efforts but critics say the social media giant falls short\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Colorado Springs Moverss\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Meta defends its child safety efforts but critics say the social media giant falls short - Colorado Springs Moverss","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3959","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Meta defends its child safety efforts but critics say the social media giant falls short - Colorado Springs Moverss","og_description":"Meta is defending itself in a California federal court against allegations that its social media business poses harms to children and teenagers.","og_url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3959","og_site_name":"Colorado Springs Moverss","article_published_time":"2026-08-20T17:34:20+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3959#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3959"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c"},"headline":"Meta defends its child safety efforts but critics say the social media giant falls short","datePublished":"2026-08-20T17:34:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3959"},"wordCount":993,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3959#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/59e98aca9454eef875f43dab0def3a77.webp","articleSection":["Business"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3959#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3959","url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3959","name":"Meta defends its child safety efforts but critics say the social media giant falls short - Colorado Springs Moverss","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3959#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3959#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/59e98aca9454eef875f43dab0def3a77.webp","datePublished":"2026-08-20T17:34:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3959#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3959"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3959#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/59e98aca9454eef875f43dab0def3a77.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/59e98aca9454eef875f43dab0def3a77.webp","width":2000,"height":1333},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3959#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Meta defends its child safety efforts but critics say the social media giant falls short"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/","name":"Colorado Springs Moverss","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com"],"url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}