South Korea urges Meta to expand youth safety measures

SEOUL: South Korea’s media regulator has called on Meta to apply proposed measures aimed at protecting young users across its social media platforms worldwide, saying children and teenagers need stronger safeguards against potentially addictive online features.

The Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC) made the comments on Thursday as Seoul considers tougher rules governing how social media platforms operate around minors.

The regulator’s position follows landmark settlements announced in the United States on Wednesday, under which Meta agreed to pay billions of dollars and introduce a series of changes to Facebook and Instagram following accusations that the platforms contributed to youth addiction and harmed young people’s mental health.

Among the proposed changes are restrictions on usage time, limits on notifications, stronger age-verification systems and the option of non-algorithmic content feeds. Meta also agreed to measures aimed at hiding engagement indicators such as “likes” from younger users.

The KMCC said these changes could have significance beyond the United States.

The regulator specifically pointed to features that may encourage excessive social media use, including algorithm-driven recommendations, visible engagement figures and push notifications designed to bring users back to the platforms.

Such measures, the commission said, should ideally be extended to young users around the world.

South Korea has increasingly focused on the impact of social media and recommendation algorithms on children and teenagers. Officials are concerned that platforms can encourage prolonged screen time by continuously presenting personalised content and notifications.

At a policy briefing to President Lee Jae Myung in July, KMCC Chairman Kim Jong-cheol said the commission was reviewing phased restrictions on social media use by minors.

The proposals include limiting access for children under 14 and placing restrictions on algorithms and other features that could encourage excessive use among teenagers aged 14 to 19.

Seven related bills are currently pending in South Korea’s National Assembly. The KMCC said it supports advancing the proposals through public discussion and consultation.

The debate reflects a wider international effort to make social media safer for children. Governments in several countries are examining age restrictions, parental controls, algorithm transparency and other measures as concerns grow over young people’s exposure to potentially harmful online content and excessive platform use.

However, tighter regulation also presents challenges. Critics have raised concerns about privacy, particularly around age verification, while questions remain over how effectively restrictions could be enforced across rapidly evolving digital platforms.

For South Korea, the issue is becoming an increasingly important policy challenge: how to give young people access to social media while preventing platform features from turning engagement into excessive use.