Commentary: Will Meta’s US settlement change how Singapore regulates social media?

A landmark US lawsuit has made clear that if left to their own devices, social media companies are unlikely to take drastic steps to protect young users, says NUS' Carol Soon.

Olivia Konar holds a banner with names of young people who advocates say died as a result of social media outside the Ronald V Dellums Federal Building and US Courthouse on Aug 18, 2026, in Oakland, California. Her sister Coco Konar died in 2022 when she was 17. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

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SINGAPORE: Meta’s US$18 billion settlement with US states and territories , alongside its agreement to implement new child-safety features, came as a surprise. The federal lawsuit was expected to be a drawn-out affair but concluded one week after the trial commenced.

This latest development is significant as it adds another layer of duty of care by social media companies to young users.

It also guides policymakers on how they can enforce safer design. Singapore plans to introduce laws in early 2027 requiring social media platforms to roll out stronger safeguards for teens – and for platforms that do not comply, Singapore aims to raise the minimum age of access to 18.

PLATFORMS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE “HOW”

Meta and other social media companies have come under heavy regulatory scrutiny in recent years. Earlier this year, Snap and YouTube settled lawsuits over their impact on users’ mental health ahead of trial.

CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less In legislating against social media, governments have focused on the “whom” and the “what” – young users, and harmful content. This approach has informed policies like the under-16 social media ban . Meta’s settlement in the US extends platforms’ responsibility to the “how”. What Meta agreed to – limiting the amount of time children spend on their platforms, banning access from midnight to 6am, and removing push notifications during school hours – will change how young users engage with social media. Meta previously said its existing tools like screen-time warnings and parental controls make their services safer for children. However, experts highlighted that such features are rarely used as they are not automatically turned on. The reality is that social media companies, being profit-making companies, make deliberate architecture choices to attract users and keep them on the platforms. What’s more, history shows how Meta tweaks product features for different markets for this purpose. For instance, the company introduced Facebook Lite for developing countries that run on slower networks. A different set of tools usable with lower data bandwidths were introduced for Facebook Lite. Other country-specific rollouts include Facebook Marketplace and the tweaking of Newsfeed after the 2016 US presidential election so users would see more posts from their friends and family, and fewer from brands, businesses and media. While this adjustment might not have been made for revenue purposes, it was a response to the scrutiny the platform faced for the spread of election mis- and disinformation. These architectural changes point to social media companies’ ability to not just change product settings quickly but also for markets of their choice.

In legislating against social media, governments have focused on the “whom” and the “what” – young users, and harmful content. This approach has informed policies like the under-16 social media ban .

Meta’s settlement in the US extends platforms’ responsibility to the “how”. What Meta agreed to – limiting the amount of time children spend on their platforms, banning access from midnight to 6am, and removing push notifications during school hours – will change how young users engage with social media.

Meta previously said its existing tools like screen-time warnings and parental controls make their services safer for children. However, experts highlighted that such features are rarely used as they are not automatically turned on.

The reality is that social media companies, being profit-making companies, make deliberate architecture choices to attract users and keep them on the platforms. What’s more, history shows how Meta tweaks product features for different markets for this purpose.

For instance, the company introduced Facebook Lite for developing countries that run on slower networks. A different set of tools usable with lower data bandwidths were introduced for Facebook Lite.

Other country-specific rollouts include Facebook Marketplace and the tweaking of Newsfeed after the 2016 US presidential election so users would see more posts from their friends and family, and fewer from brands, businesses and media. While this adjustment might not have been made for revenue purposes, it was a response to the scrutiny the platform faced for the spread of election mis- and disinformation.

These architectural changes point to social media companies’ ability to not just change product settings quickly but also for markets of their choice.

WILL SOCIAL MEDIA BE SAFER?

On paper, the changes that Meta said it will make to Facebook and Instagram aim to limit the amount of time young users spend there and make the platforms less addictive.

However, the new features do not fully address the problem of harmful content and the personalised targeting of users via platform algorithms. The harm posed to young people does not just stem from how much time they spend online but also what they are exposed to.

Moreover, making social media safer should not happen only after it is rolled out to users. User safety considerations must be made upstream, when a product is designed and being developed.

According to the World Economic Forum, “safety by design puts user safety and rights at the centre of the design and development of online products and services”. The intention is for technology companies to “minimise online threats by anticipating, detecting and eliminating online harms before they occur”.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR SINGAPORE

Meta’s lawsuit has made clear that if left to their own devices, social media companies are unlikely to take necessary drastic steps.

Regulators will have to shoulder the responsibility of defining safety standards for children and take action should social media companies fail to meet the standard. The community, comprising users, parents and educators, will have to remain vigilant and step up to call for accountability.

Singapore’s approach to improving online safety for users has been a multi-pronged one. Since 2022, the government has introduced a slew of regulations which seek to mitigate the negative repercussions of social media use at the content, platform, and system levels, and more recently, at the victim level .

At a forum organised by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information and the Institute of Policy Studies in July, Minister Josephine Teo said that safety is not just about content, but also how much time children spend on social media and the nature of their interactions.

Besides addictive features, policymakers should also be concerned with product features that put children in dangerous situations such as chat functions. For example, platforms could be required to restrict messaging from strangers and notify parents and guardians of accounts that send messages to their children.

While Meta’s product tweaks will be made for the US market only, the settlement is likely to nudge similar considerations in other jurisdictions, which could leverage their regulatory frameworks to impose obligations on Meta and other platforms. And they should, because children all around the world, regardless of their nationality, deserve so much more.

Dr Carol Soon is Deputy Head and Associate Professor (Practice) in media policy and regulation at the Department of Communications and New Media, National University of Singapore. She is also Vice Chair of the Media Literacy Council.

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新加坡国立大学的卡罗尔·宋表示，一项具有里程碑意义的美国诉讼表明，如果放任社交媒体公司自行其是，它们不太可能采取激烈的措施来保护年轻用户。

2026年8月18日，在加利福尼亚州奥克兰市的罗纳德·V·戴勒姆斯联邦大楼和美国法院外，奥利维亚·科纳举着一条横幅，上面写着一些年轻人的名字，倡导者称这些年轻人因社交媒体而丧生。她的妹妹可可·科纳于2022年去世，年仅17岁。（美联社照片/诺亚·伯格）

这段音频由人工智能工具生成。

新加坡：Meta公司与美国各州和地区达成180亿美元的和解协议，并同意实施新的儿童安全功能，这一结果令人意外。此前预计这场联邦诉讼将旷日持久，但没想到在开庭一周后就宣告结束。

这一最新进展意义重大，因为它为社交媒体公司对年轻用户增加了一层额外的关怀义务。

它还指导政策制定者如何强制推行更安全的设计。新加坡计划在2027年初出台法律，要求社交媒体平台为青少年推出更强有力的安全保障措施；对于不遵守规定的平台，新加坡计划将最低访问年龄提高到18岁。

平台负责“如何”实现

近年来，Meta和其他社交媒体公司受到了监管机构的严格审查。今年早些时候，Snap和YouTube在开庭审理前就其对用户心理健康造成的影响一案达成和解。

CNA游戏 猜词游戏 逐行破解单词 流行词游戏 用给定的字母组成单词 迷你数独 小小的谜题，强大的脑力挑战 迷你填字游戏 小方格，大挑战 单词搜索 尽可能多地找出单词 显示更多 显示更少 在立法限制社交媒体时，各国政府一直关注“谁”和“什么”——年轻用户和有害内容。这种方法影响了诸如16岁以下用户禁止使用社交媒体之类的政策。Meta在美国达成的和解协议将平台的责任扩展到了“如何”。Meta同意的措施——限制儿童在其平台上花费的时间、禁止在午夜至凌晨6点之间访问以及在学校上课期间移除推送通知——将改变年轻用户使用社交媒体的方式。Meta此前表示，其现有的工具，例如屏幕时间警告和家长控制，使其服务对儿童更安全。然而，专家指出，这些功能很少被使用，因为它们不会自动开启。事实上，社交媒体公司作为盈利性公司，会刻意做出架构选择来吸引用户并留住他们。此外，历史表明，Meta会针对不同市场调整产品功能以达到此目的。例如，该公司为网络速度较慢的发展中国家推出了Facebook Lite。Facebook Lite配备了一套适用于较低数据带宽的工具。其他针对特定国家的推广还包括Facebook Marketplace，以及在2016年美国总统大选后对信息流的调整，使用户能够看到更多来自亲朋好友的帖子，而减少来自品牌、企业和媒体的内容。虽然这一调整可能并非出于盈利目的，而是为了应对平台因传播选举虚假信息而面临的审查。这些​​架构上的改变表明，社交媒体公司不仅能够快速更改产品设置，还能针对特定市场进行调整。

在制定针对社交媒体的立法时，各国政府主要关注“对象”和“内容”——即未成年用户和有害内容。这种方法促成了诸如禁止16岁以下未成年人使用社交媒体等政策的出台。

Meta在美国达成的和解协议将平台的责任扩展到了“如何”层面。Me​​ta同意采取的措施——限制儿童使用平台的时间、禁止在午夜至凌晨6点之间访问平台以及在学校上课期间移除推送通知——将改变年轻用户使用社交媒体的方式。

Meta此前曾表示，其现有的屏幕时间警告和家长控制等工具能够让儿童使用更安全的服务。然而，专家指出，这些功能很少被使用，因为它们并非自动开启。

事实上，社交媒体公司作为以盈利为目的的企业，会精心设计架构以吸引用户并留住用户。此外，历史也表明，Meta 会针对不同的市场调整产品功能以达到此目的。

例如，该公司针对网络速度较慢的发展中国家推出了 Facebook Lite。Facebook Lite 配备了一套适用于较低数据带宽的不同工具。

其他针对特定国家的推广措施包括推出 Facebook Marketplace，以及在 2016 年美国总统大选后对新闻推送进行调整，使用户看到更多来自亲朋好友的帖子，而减少来自品牌、企业和媒体的内容。虽然这一调整可能并非出于盈利目的，但却是对平台因选举虚假信息和错误信息的传播而面临的审查的回应。

这些架构变化表明，社交媒体公司不仅能够快速更改产品设置，而且还能针对他们选择的市场进行更改。

社交媒体会更安全吗？

从表面上看，Meta 声称将对 Facebook 和 Instagram 进行更改，旨在限制年轻用户在这些平台上花费的时间，并降低这些平台的成瘾性。

然而，这些新功能并不能完全解决有害内容以及平台算法对用户进行个性化定向推送的问题。对青少年造成的危害不仅源于他们上网的时间长短，还源于他们接触到的内容。

此外，社交媒体的安全性不应仅仅在面向用户推出后才考虑。用户安全问题必须在产品设计和开发阶段就纳入考量。

世界经济论坛指出，“安全设计”将用户安全和权利置于在线产品和服务设计与开发的核心位置。其目的是让科技公司“通过预测、检测和消除网络危害，最大限度地减少网络威胁”。

这对新加坡意味着什么

Meta 的诉讼表明，如果放任社交媒体公司自行其是，它们不太可能采取必要的激烈措施。

监管机构必须承担起制定儿童安全标准的责任，并在社交媒体公司未能达到标准时采取行动。由用户、家长和教育工作者组成的社群必须保持警惕，并积极呼吁追究责任。

新加坡改善用户网络安全的方法是多管齐下的。自2022年以来，政府出台了一系列法规，旨在从内容、平台和系统层面减轻社交媒体使用带来的负面影响，最近又增加了对受害者的保护。

在7月份由数码发展及新闻部和政策研究所联合举办的论坛上，部长杨莉明表示，安全不仅关乎内容，还关乎儿童在社交媒体上花费的时间以及他们互动的方式。

除了令人上瘾的功能外，政策制定者还应关注那些可能将儿童置于危险境地的产品功能，例如聊天功能。例如，可以要求平台限制陌生人发送消息，并通知家长或监护人哪些账户会向其子女发送消息。

虽然Meta的产品调整仅针对美国市场，但这项和解协议可能会促使其他司法管辖区也做出类似考虑，这些地区可以利用其监管框架对Meta和其他平台施加义务。他们理应如此，因为世界各地的儿童，无论国籍，都应该得到更好的待遇。

卡罗尔·宋博士是新加坡国立大学传播与新媒体系媒体政策与监管专业的副主任兼副教授（实践方向），同时也是媒体素养理事会的副主席。

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