Meta’s massive settlement over allegations about the harmful impact of Facebook and Instagram on teenagers may not do enough to make the platforms safer, a former company safety engineer has warned. Meta recently agreed to pay up to $18 billion over the next 10 years to settle allegations brought by nearly all US states. The states had accused the company of designing its social media platforms in ways that could keep young users hooked and potentially harm their mental health. However, former Meta safety engineer and whistleblower Arturo Bejar has criticised the deal, saying it may reduce the amount of time teenagers spend on Instagram and Facebook without addressing the deeper safety issues.
According to Reuters, Bejar believes the settlement does not fully address concerns he had previously raised about Meta’s platforms. He has alleged that the company did not properly report the harm teenagers experienced while using its services. Bejar has also claimed that Meta did not do enough to respond to reports involving child safety.
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The whistleblower has described the settlement as potentially “safety theatre”. His concern is that simply getting teenagers to spend less time on Instagram does not necessarily mean they are safer when they use the platform.
Meta has previously tested features aimed at reducing some of the potential risks faced by young users. One such effort was Project Daisy, which involved hiding the number of likes on posts. However, Meta’s own internal research reportedly found that hiding like counts had only a modest impact.
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“Critics are also concerned about Meta’s recommendation algorithms, which can decide what users see on their feeds. Previous internal research had raised concerns about teenagers being shown content linked to body image and other sensitive issues.” said Reuters.
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