It seems that Meta’s effort to rope YouTube into its restrictions on usage time for youngsters is not going to work, with YouTube CEO Neal Mohan dismissing the concept, noting that YouTube already has adequate protection programs in place for young users.
Last month, Meta agreed to pay more than $18 billion in combined penalties in order to settle a trial brought by a bipartisan group of attorneys general over social media harms. The company also agreed to implement new restrictions on teen social media use, including a daily two-hour usage time limit and a default block on Meta apps between midnight and 6 a.m., for users aged under 18.
Meta committed to enacting these restrictions for five years, but it also added a clause that it would extend its commitment to teen usage restrictions for 10 years, if YouTube and TikTok both also agreed to implement the same. The agreement included a financial element, which would see TikTok and YouTube also pay a part of the settlement.
But this week, at its annual Made On showcase event, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan said that YouTube will not agree to these terms, and won’t be participating in Meta’s teen usage crackdown.
As reported by CNN, Mohan said that YouTube has invested heavily in safety measures for young users, which it will continue to do. But it won’t align with Meta’s proposal.
Mohan said that YouTube already has parental controls in place to facilitate usage time limits, while it’s working with child safety experts to implement best practice solutions.
Mohan also noted that YouTube is very different from Meta’s apps, and as such, it will require its own unique approach to these issues.
Both YouTube and TikTok were implicated in the same court trial around teen harms and misuse, but neither, thus far, has agreed to align with Meta’s settlement terms.
Earlier this month, TikTok rejected a set of ads from Meta that called on TikTok and YouTube to join its settlement agreement, according to Axios.
That could suggest that TikTok will also refuse to join Meta’s call for a collaborative approach, with Meta’s collaboration clause seeking to deflect some of the negative press from its own business.
