Meta settlement falls short on teen mental health protections, whistleblower says
Whistleblower Arturo Bejar has criticized a settlement between Meta and U.S. states, arguing it fails to address the core issues of teen safety and harmful content on Instagram. While the settlement includes financial penalties and new measures, critics claim it amounts to 'safety theater'.
Why it matters
The debate highlights the ongoing tension between corporate social media practices and the regulatory efforts to protect minors from digital harm.
A whistleblower whose testimony helped build a child safety case against Meta Platforms said on Wednesday that the firm’s settlement with a coalition of U.S. states does not meaningfully address harms from social media that he described in court.
Former Meta safety engineer Arturo Bejar told a judge and eight jurors last week that the firm had knowingly underreported the frequency with which teens were harmed on its platforms, pushed them toward content that made them feel bad about themselves and failed to correctly adjudicate reports of child predation.
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On Wednesday, the states announced they and Meta had settled the case, with California Attorney General Rob Bonta declaring that the settlement “will make social media less dangerous for our kids.”
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