YouTube CEO dismisses the idea of joining Meta’s multistate child safety settlement

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YouTube CEO Neal Mohan dismissed the idea of joining Meta’s multistate settlement agreement around child safety, saying the video platform already has measures in place to protect young users.

“We have invested in making sure that young people are safe on our platform… for a very long time,” Mohan told CNN. “What you should expect from YouTube is continuing to focus on those things.”

Meta agreed to the landmark, $18 billion agreement to settle claims from multiple states alleging that it designed addictive platforms that contributed to a youth mental health crisis.

Meta has sought to pressure rivals like YouTube and TikTok to make similar changes to the ones outlined in its agreement, including introducing time limits and removing “like” counts for teen users, and third-party oversight for its safety practices.

Mohan’s comments came during a meeting with reporters at the Google-owned platform’s annual Made on YouTube event on Wednesday. At the event, the company announced updates to how creators and viewers can use the platform, including new AI tools and messaging features.

Meta agreed to the settlement midway through the trial in the multistate lawsuit , and it has tried to frame the settlement as an industry-leading move for youth safety, making statements and running ads encouraging other platforms to follow suit.

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Here’s what Meta’s $18 billion multistate settlement could mean for kids — and for its bottom line

As part of the deal, Meta said it would pay out only 70% of the settlement unless TikTok and YouTube agreed to pay around $6 billion each and make similar changes. And California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the states are willing to take TikTok and YouTube to court if needed to get them on board with the deal.

But Mohan expressed confidence in the safety steps YouTube has already taken, such as an option for parents to limit the time their teens can spend scrolling through its short-form video feature, Shorts. He added that YouTube works with third-party experts to advise on child safety features.

“We’re a very different platform (from Meta), too,” he said, adding that the company is leaning into users watching more of its content on living room TVs.

TikTok has not commented on calls to join Meta’s agreement. Attorney General Bonta’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Mohan’s stance.

YouTube, along with Meta, was found liable in a separate trial in March for intentionally addicting a young woman and harming her mental health following a trial in Los Angeles. Both companies plan to appeal the verdict, with a YouTube spokesperson saying at the time that it “misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.”

YouTube settled with another teen with similar claims earlier this year, as did TikTok and Snap; the teen dropped the case against Meta. All four companies continue to face hundreds of lawsuits from individuals, families and school districts claiming their platforms harmed young users.

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YouTube 首席执行官 Neal Mohan 驳斥了加入 Meta 围绕儿童安全达成的多州和解协议的想法，称该视频平台已经采取措施保护年轻用户。

莫汉告诉CNN：“我们长期以来一直致力于确保年轻人在我们平台上的安全。你们可以期待YouTube继续专注于这些方面。”

Meta 同意支付 180 亿美元，达成具有里程碑意义的和解协议，以解决多个州提出的指控，这些指控称 Meta 设计了令人上瘾的平台，导致青少年心理健康危机。

Meta 一直试图向 YouTube 和 TikTok 等竞争对手施压，要求它们做出与其协议中概述的类似的改变，包括引入时间限制、取消青少年用户的“点赞”计数，以及对其安全措施进行第三方监督。

莫汉是在周三谷歌旗下YouTube平台举办的年度“Made on YouTube”活动上与记者见面时发表上述言论的。在本次活动上，该公司宣布了平台使用方式的更新，包括新的人工智能工具和消息功能，方便创作者和观众使用平台。

在多州诉讼案审理进行到一半时，Meta 同意了和解协议，并试图将该和解协议塑造成一项行业领先的青少年安全举措，发表声明并投放广告，鼓励其他平台效仿。

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Meta公司与多个州达成的180亿美元和解协议可能对孩子们以及该公司自身的盈利产生以下影响

作为协议的一部分，Meta表示，除非TikTok和YouTube同意各自支付约60亿美元并做出类似改变，否则Meta只会支付70%的赔偿金。加州总检察长罗伯·邦塔表示，如有必要，加州政府愿意将TikTok和YouTube告上法庭，以迫使它们接受该协议。

但莫汉对YouTube已采取的安全措施表示信任，例如允许家长限制青少年浏览短视频功能“Shorts”的时间。他还补充说，YouTube与第三方专家合作，为儿童安全功能提供建议。

“我们（与 Meta）的平台也截然不同，”他说道，并补充说，公司正努力让用户在客厅电视上观看更多内容。

TikTok尚未对加入Meta协议的呼吁发表评论。总检察长邦塔的办公室也未立即回应关于莫汉立场的置评请求。

今年3月，YouTube和Meta在洛杉矶的一场独立审判中被判有罪，罪名是故意使一名年轻女性沉迷于网络，并损害了她的心理健康。两家公司都计划对判决提出上诉。当时，YouTube发言人表示，该判决“误解了YouTube，它是一个负责任地构建的流媒体平台，而不是社交媒体网站”。

今年早些时候，YouTube与另一名提出类似指控的青少年达成和解，TikTok和Snap也采取了类似措施；这名青少年撤销了对Meta的诉讼。这四家公司目前仍面临数百起来自个人、家庭和学区的诉讼，这些诉讼声称它们的平台对年轻用户造成了伤害。