United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk demanded on Thursday mandatory rules to protect children across all social media networks following Meta's landmark legal settlement in the United States.
On Wednesday, during an ongoing trial, social media giant Meta agreed to pay up to 18 billion US dollars across two separate legal settlements to resolve lawsuits brought by American state prosecutors.
Under the primary agreement with US attorneys general, Meta agreed to pay up to 17 billion US dollars (14.5 billion euros) and restrict access to its Instagram and Facebook platforms for teenagers across 49 states and territories. Prosecutors compared the agreement to the historic 1998 legal settlement imposed on major tobacco companies.
Texas subsequently announced a separate settlement worth more than 1 billion US dollars (858 million euros) with similar restrictions on teenage users, bringing the total financial payout past 18 billion US dollars (15.4 billion euros).
Responding to the legal agreement, Türk stated in a message published on social media platform X that children should not have to wait for lawsuits to be opened before they can navigate the internet safely.
The High Commissioner noted that the new restrictions accepted by Meta across American states and territories aligned with his demands, but he emphasized that a safety-centered approach must be applied across the entire technology sector.
He added that governments must take the lead in establishing digital safety protections rather than waiting for courts and private corporations to act.
UN Child Safety Guidelines
Türk had previously warned on 29 May that ensuring online safety for children was an urgent global priority. At the time, he argued that relying solely on age verification restrictions would fail to alter the underlying platform designs and algorithms that make social media dangerous for young users.
The UN human rights chief maintained that technology companies must integrate safety by design into their digital platforms from the outset, rather than placing the burden of online protection onto parents and children.
His office subsequently released ten guidelines for child safety on digital platforms. The recommendations called for maximum protection of children's personal data by default and specified that the commercial microtargeting of minors must not be permitted.
Global Legal Pressures
The settlement in the United States resolves only one aspect of a broader, ongoing legal confrontation in which major social media platforms face accusations of contributing to a youth mental health crisis across the country.
Meta is also facing regulatory action in Europe, where the European Commission is conducting parallel investigations into similar platform safety concerns.
On 10 July, European Union regulators ordered Meta, led by chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, to modify the user interfaces of Facebook and Instagram. European officials labeled the interface designs excessively addictive and warned the company of heavy financial penalties if it failed to comply.
Regulators in Brussels accused the technology company of failing to properly assess and mitigate the risks of users developing platform addictions. The European executive highlighted particular dangers for minors and vulnerable adults from product features designed to retain user attention for as long as possible.
