Here is a look at what Meta said it will do to ensure that users are as old as they say they are, and some of the legal issues that could complicate age checks.
So the judge ordered changes intended to improve age assurances “within the limits of COPPA. The settlement uses a similar approach. Meta agreed to the multi-state settlement, announced on August 26, to resolve legal claims that it designed social media platforms to addict children.
Instead the company said it looks at contextual clues, like birthday posts or celebrations of school grades, to identify accounts that are being used by children. In New Mexico, the judge concluded that the online-privacy law restricted him from ordering Meta to ask children to submit personal data or be passively tracked online, and said that strict age-verification requirements could put Meta at an unfair disadvantage to social media competitors.
Meta has not historically asked users for proof of age such as a photo ID.
The Federal Trade Commission, which enforces COPPA for the U.S. government, issued a policy statement in February that it would not take action against any company that collects personal information for the sole purpose of determining a user’s age via age-verification technologies. Because uS states have their own authority to enforce COPPA violations even when the FTC declines to do so, legal experts said that the FTC policy provides only a partial shield for companies.
