{"id":6133,"date":"2026-08-27T14:12:03","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T14:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=6133"},"modified":"2026-08-27T14:12:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T14:12:03","slug":"you-only-get-like-two-hours-of-alcohol-or-two-hours-of-cigarettes-a-day-former-meta-engineer-on-child-safety-settlement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=6133","title":{"rendered":"\u2018You only get like two hours of alcohol or two hours of cigarettes a day\u2019: Former Meta engineer on child safety settlement"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Besides the money, which will be paid out over a decade, Meta has agreed to strengthen its age estimates to keep kids under 13 off its platforms and teens in age-appropriate accounts, enact a hard limit of two hours a day for users under 18, block kids from the apps from midnight to 6 a.m., and hide \u201clike\u201d counts, among other changes.<\/p>\n

Read more His state Democratic Party is still divided but Michigan\u2019s El Sayed gets it, he says: \u2018losing is hard\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Meta said the new safeguards will only apply in the United States, with most in place for 10 years.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

While acknowledging the changes go further than Meta has ever gone when it comes to\u00a0child safety, critics and children\u2019s advocates cautioned it will not solve its myriad problems overnight.<\/p>\n

Arturo B\u00e9jar, a former Meta engineering director, said the settlement is a \u201csignificant milestone,\u201d but parents should not see Instagram as suddenly safe for children.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe agreement has a big problem in that it allows Meta to define harm,\u201d B\u00e9jar said in an interview Wednesday. \u201cIt\u2019s one thing to say, \u2018Yeah, you only get like two hours of alcohol or two hours of cigarettes a day,\u2019 but it\u2019s still as bad for you because of what\u2019s getting delivered.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

B\u00e9jar, the\u00a0first witness\u00a0to testify during the federal trial cut short by the settlement, would like to see Meta address the effect of content recommendations to teens, which he says can prove addictive. While teens might put their phone down when they hit the two-hour limit, they can be distressed about it because the way the platform is designed leaves them craving more.<\/p>\n

Meta said people over 18 also can adopt versions of the new controls individually, such as daily time-limit reminders, but there will not be an option for them to opt into the overall settings for what teens experience on the platform.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Stronger age checks<\/h2>\n

To protect kids, first Meta has to know who they are. While the company has already been using artificial intelligence to determine if kids are lying about their age \u2014 either to sign up if they are under 13, which is not allowed, or to use adult accounts when they are 13 to 17 \u2014 it did not always work.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Under the proposed settlement, Meta agreed to strengthen its technology to check kids\u2019 ages, using its own as well as third-party tools, with regular outside audits on how well it is working. The agreement also includes specific goals around false positive rates \u2014 that is, minors who are identified as over 18. And if a user is identified as under 13 and kicked off the platforms, Meta will check the ages of their friends, too.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe age assurance section is reasonably good because it has measurement, has independent testing, has goals,\u201d B\u00e9jar said. \u201cBecause I think Meta should be measured on effectiveness, not effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meta requires users to be at least 13 years old to create an account, in line with federal child privacy law.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In his testimony last week, B\u00e9jar said Meta took a \u201cdon\u2019t ask, don\u2019t tell\u201d approach on kids under 13 on its platforms.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cMeta has one of the most sophisticated infrastructures in the world to detect fake accounts,\u201d he said. But despite that, he added, there were \u201cno goals, no metrics\u201d to detect and check kids\u2019 ages who were suspected to be under 13.<\/p>\n

Some safety features will be on by default<\/h2>\n

Critics have faulted Meta over many of its safety features that users have to manually turn on, or opt into themselves.<\/p>\n

Read more RFK told Congress he didn\u2019t go to Samoa in 2019 to study measles vaccines \u2014\u00a0so why does his old letter mention it eight times?<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Of the host of safeguards listed in the settlement, many are on as a default. This includes the two-hour time limit, which can only be turned off with a parent\u2019s permission, as well as the night mode that blocks use between midnight and 6 a.m.<\/p>\n

Still, under the agreement other features, such as turning off video autoplay or showing posts in chronological order rather than having algorithms decide what to show kids scrolling through their feeds, will be opt-in.<\/p>\n

Josh Golin, executive director of online safety nonprofit Fairplay, said the deal appeared to be too focused on offering tools to parents rather than restricting harmful features altogether.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWe are disappointed that the settlement does not turn off by default recommendation algorithms that connect kids to predators and send young people down dangerous rabbit holes,\u201d Golin said.<\/p>\n

Questions around default settings came up at the trial earlier this week when a lawyer for the states suing Meta pressed\u00a0Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, on the low adoption rate among teens for the \u201ctake a break\u201d feature, which prompts users to step away if they have been scrolling a while.<\/p>\n

Very few teens used the feature when Instagram first introduced it, but since launching separate teen accounts in 2024, Meta has made it the default setting for teenage users. Still, if a teen didn\u2019t want to take a break, they could simply swipe away the notification.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

It may take time to see the results<\/h2>\n

Some researchers\u00a0have found\u00a0that many past protections Meta has rolled out are ineffective or don\u2019t work as advertised.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a little premature, unfortunately, to tell if exactly all the changes we want to see are going to happen,\u201d said Ya\u00ebl Eisenstat, director of policy and impact for the Cybersafety Research Center, which recently\u00a0audited dozens of safety tools\u00a0offered by both Meta and other social media companies and said most fell short.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Still, Eisenstat said, Wednesday\u2019s settlement is monumental in showing that alternative approaches are possible.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

For years, Meta \u201cdecided to go against the advice of some of their own internal employees and continue to ignore the fact that these design features were unsafe in search of profit,\u201d said Eisenstat, who also previously worked at Meta, then Facebook, before leaving the company in 2019. The measures outlined Wednesday at the very least show that there are technically-feasible options that can make the platform safer, she said \u2014 something whistleblowers and others have already \u201cbeen saying very loudly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like others, Eisenstat stressed that there was a lot of work left to be done \u2014 and that it will require a combination of technical solutions, market forces and government regulation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no singular silver bullet for fixing all of this,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m just glad that at least we are catching up a little bit now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The settlement, which also includes the District of Columbia and U.S. territories, must still be approved by a judge.<\/p>\n

Read more Extreme weather has cost California farmers over $800 million this year<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

___<\/p>\n

Grantham-Philips reported from Chicago.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arturo B\u00e9jar, a former Meta engineering director, said the settlement is a \u201csignificant milestone,\u201d but “it allows Meta to define harm.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6132,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-meta"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018You only get like two hours of alcohol or two hours of cigarettes a day\u2019: Former Meta engineer on child safety settlement - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=6133\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018You only get like two hours of alcohol or two hours of cigarettes a day\u2019: Former Meta engineer on child safety settlement - Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Arturo B\u00e9jar, a former Meta engineering director, said the settlement is a \u201csignificant milestone,\u201d but "it allows Meta to define harm."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=6133\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-27T14:12:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=6133#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=6133\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018You only get like two hours of alcohol or two hours of cigarettes a day\u2019: Former Meta engineer on child safety settlement\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-27T14:12:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=6133\"},\"wordCount\":1147,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=6133#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/c40e725f98714fab91b4e14614868feb.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Meta\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=6133#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=6133\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=6133\",\"name\":\"\u2018You only get like two hours of alcohol or two hours of cigarettes a day\u2019: Former Meta engineer on child safety settlement - Cross Country Moving Team\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=6133#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=6133#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/c40e725f98714fab91b4e14614868feb.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-27T14:12:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=6133#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=6133\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=6133#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/c40e725f98714fab91b4e14614868feb.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/c40e725f98714fab91b4e14614868feb.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=6133#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018You only get like two hours of alcohol or two hours of cigarettes a day\u2019: Former Meta engineer on child safety settlement\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cross Country Moving Team\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018You only get like two hours of alcohol or two hours of cigarettes a day\u2019: Former Meta engineer on child safety settlement - Cross Country Moving Team","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=6133","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018You only get like two hours of alcohol or two hours of cigarettes a day\u2019: Former Meta engineer on child safety settlement - Cross Country Moving Team","og_description":"Arturo B\u00e9jar, a former Meta engineering director, said the settlement is a \u201csignificant milestone,\u201d but \"it allows Meta to define harm.\"","og_url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=6133","og_site_name":"Cross Country Moving Team","article_published_time":"2026-08-27T14:12:03+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=6133#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=6133"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"headline":"\u2018You only get like two hours of alcohol or two hours of cigarettes a day\u2019: Former Meta engineer on child safety settlement","datePublished":"2026-08-27T14:12:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=6133"},"wordCount":1147,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=6133#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/c40e725f98714fab91b4e14614868feb.webp","articleSection":["Meta"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=6133#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=6133","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=6133","name":"\u2018You only get like two hours of alcohol or two hours of cigarettes a day\u2019: Former Meta engineer on child safety settlement - Cross Country Moving Team","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=6133#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=6133#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/c40e725f98714fab91b4e14614868feb.webp","datePublished":"2026-08-27T14:12:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=6133#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=6133"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=6133#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/c40e725f98714fab91b4e14614868feb.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/c40e725f98714fab91b4e14614868feb.webp","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=6133#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018You only get like two hours of alcohol or two hours of cigarettes a day\u2019: Former Meta engineer on child safety settlement"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/","name":"Cross Country Moving Team","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com"],"url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}