South Korea Says Meta’s Youth Protection Program Should Be Adopted Worldwide

South Korea's media and communications commission (KMCC) has said that Meta's plans to restrict features that could lead to excessive social media use among young people should also be applied to young users worldwide.

The KMCC stated that social media companies should take more responsibility for protecting underage children and teenagers online.

This statement comes after Meta agreed to pay up to $1.8 billion and make changes following lawsuits filed in multiple US states alleging that the company incorporated designs on platforms like Facebook and Instagram that harm young people's mental health and are highly addictive.

The changes include limiting social media usage time, reducing notifications, stricter age verification, restricting algorithm-based content recommendations, and hiding engagement metrics such as like counts for young users.

South Korea is also taking steps to more strictly supervise minors' social media use, as concerns rise over excessive screen time among young people and algorithms that recommend content to keep them engaged on social media platforms.

Currently, seven related bills are being discussed in South Korea's National Assembly, including restricting social media access for those under 14 and limiting algorithms and platform features that could lead to excessive use among teenagers aged 14 to 19.

Ref & Photo; Reuters