Govts should work with social media cos to set teen safety norms : Meta VP Davis

“We all have some sense that we want to create interoperable experiences (for young people.) We have to figure out then, how to implement it. For example, we have to ensure that we have good ways to identify the age of users or potential age liars. It may also involve thinking about the standards for content and what kind of content we provide to young people to ensure that the experiences are age-appropriate,” Davis told ET.

Over the last two years, the company has created close to 30 tools that strive to create a safe browsing space for women and teenagers and act quickly on child sexual abuse material. For example, the accounts of teenagers across platforms on Meta are kept private by default. Apart from this, accounts which have been identified to be problematic are not allowed any access to accounts of teenagers, Davis said.

A major challenge while dealing with such accounts, however, arises from users or parents of teenagers who allow their children to create an account on Facebook even when they are below 13, which is the minimum age limit, Davis said.

“Many times, parents will allow their children to lie about their age and allow a child to set up an account at the age of 11. We would like the parents to know that we built our platform for 13 and above and not for 11 and above. So, it is best not to put your 11-year-old onto our platform, it is not built for them,” Davis said.

Governments should, however, not put in strict age-gating requirements for users as it defeats the purpose of keeping the internet open and safe for young users, she said.

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“First of all, it is very unrealistic, given how many young people are using our platform and all the platforms out there. It’s also unlikely to be a real solution because when you create hard stop, that’s when people go around and get a solution,” the Meta executive said.A draft of India’s digital personal data protection bill of 2022 has proposed that any social media user below the age of 18 would need parental consent to use the internet, and especially, social media platforms.

Though companies are yet to respond officially to the proposal, several top executives at big tech firms have said that the idea was “unlikely to stand,” and that it should be in line with global norms which provide for a graded age gating instead of a standard bar.

With the advent of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools and deep-fakes, Meta plans to take a “multi-layered” approach to keep its users safe. The company will, however, follow the age-old policy on nudity and child-sexual abuse material irrespective of whether it is generated by humans or an algorithm, she said.

“If it violates our policies, it violates our policies irrespective of whether it is fake or real. If it is child exploitation, it is against our policies and we do not allow it. We are going to remove,” Davis said.