The Andy Burnham government expects Meta to match its new safety rules in the United States with the UK, after the company agreed to significant changes to its Instagram and Facebook apps in a settlement that ended a landmark lawsuit on Wednesday.
The agreement came after multiple US states accused Meta, the Facebook and Instagram owner, of addicting and harming children with dangerous products. Changes included time limits, stopping notifications during school, a block on the app during critical overnight hours, bans on plastic surgery filters and more.
UK minister confirms expectation of Meta rollout
Labour Party cabinet member Pat McFadden, Labour’s work and pensions secretary, said on Thursday that he did not want young people in the US to have “a higher rate of protection” than those in Britain. Asked on Sky News whether he expected Meta to roll out the new safety features in the UK, Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) minister Mr McFadden said: “Yes, we would. We don’t want a situation where young people in America have got a higher rate of protection than young people in the UK.”
Mr McFadden said the social media ban for young people would come into force next year, confirmed the overnight curfews and added: “We’ve got to do something about this endless scrolling, which is so addictive for young people.”
Political and industry reaction to the settlement
Munira Wilson, who leads on children and families for the Liberal Democrats, said: “If a US court can pressure Meta into making significant changes to its platforms, why is our government still relying on optional curfews, strongly worded statements and unworkable bans?”
On Wednesday, the company’s chief legal officer, CJ Mahoney, said the settlement reached with the states would only work if all social media companies changed their platform designs. “Because teens move fluidly across dozens of apps, we need an industry-wide solution. We therefore call on our industry peers, TikTok, Snap, and YouTube, to implement this new framework, right away,” Mahoney said in a statement. “As a parent, I’m proud of both the work Meta has done to protect kids historically, and of this new groundbreaking agreement. But its success depends on all other social media platforms following Meta’s lead.”
Expert warns engagement model remains
Dr Rachael Kent, a senior lecturer in digital economy and society education at King’s College London, said the settlement “does not fundamentally redesign the engagement-driven model.” Dr Kent added: “Some of the measures being introduced do not remove many of the underlying engagement mechanisms altogether – infinite scroll, autoplay and algorithmic recommendation remain – but introduce limits and stopping points around them.”
