Meta said on the 10th that it is in continuing talks with the South Korean government over strengthening protections for teenage users of social media services including Facebook and Instagram.
Philip Chua, Meta's head of public policy for the Asia-Pacific region, said at a "Screen Smart" roundtable held at Meta Korea's headquarters in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul, that the company is "in discussions with the Korean government and policymakers on what solutions would be appropriate for Korea when it comes to protections for teenagers using social media."
Meta earlier agreed to a settlement of about $18 billion in U.S. litigation over teen social media use, along with a plan to cap combined daily use of Facebook and Instagram at two hours by default for users under 18. Access will also be blocked between midnight and 6 a.m. without parental consent.
The company drew a line, however, saying it is not currently holding specific talks with the Korean government about applying those U.S. measures in Korea. Even so, it said it is "willing to discuss with the Korean government whether measures similar to those in the U.S. should be applied domestically, and plans to hold such discussions going forward."
Chua also said teenagers "should be safe on every app they use, and at the same time should be able to participate freely in the digital world," adding that "to that end, Meta builds protections into its platforms and is responding proactively to teen safety in Korea and other countries." He said the company is "providing an environment where guardians can feel more at ease by helping ensure that children encounter age-appropriate content from the moment they open an app," and that Meta is "working continuously with domestic policy officials so that these protections can become an industry standard in Korea."
He also called on other companies such as YouTube and TikTok to join. "We have not yet seen YouTube or TikTok take any public position on this, but we hope these companies can help build an industry standard together with us," he said.
Chua expressed opposition, however, to policies adopted in some countries that ban teenagers from using social media outright. Citing South Korea's game shutdown system, introduced in 2011 and abolished in 2022, he said it was "an experience and a lesson that we need to find better solutions."
"Regulation cannot provide the answer to every problem, and an outright ban can produce unintended consequences," Chua said. "Regulation should fundamentally be designed on the premise that teenagers also have a right to live online and that parental choice is guaranteed, and what we are trying to do is support that by providing safe defaults."
The event was arranged to introduce the key features and use of Teen Accounts, which Meta operates to protect younger users, and to announce new protections being introduced on Threads.
Meta said the parental supervision features of Teen Accounts, already available on Instagram, Facebook and Messenger, will be extended to Threads starting next week. Teen Accounts is an account mode for users aged 14 to 18 that automatically applies settings such as limits on who can contact and interact with them, display of age-appropriate content and notifications on time limits.
If Teen Accounts serve as a basic safeguard for a healthy digital environment, the supervision features build on that by helping parents guide their children's app habits more positively. Under the change, guardians who register supervision on a child's Threads account will be able to check and set daily app usage time through the Family Center, manage a nighttime sleep mode running from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., and control who can tag their child in posts. They will also be given direct approval authority over key privacy and content settings for the child.
The update widens to Threads the supervision features previously supported on Instagram and other services, so that teenagers can also operate safely in text-based communication spaces. Meta had earlier tightened protections by aligning content exposure standards for Instagram Teen Accounts with film ratings for viewers aged 13 and over and by introducing a "restricted content" mode for parents who prefer stricter settings. In August, it also expanded worldwide, including in Korea, a feature that alerts guardians using supervision tools and provides expert resources when a child repeatedly searches for harmful terms such as suicide or self-harm.
