Meta’s Online Safety Efforts

TURTLES. HELLO, I'M MIKE WALTER, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. IT'S ESTIMATED THAT 95% OF AMERICAN TEENAGERS USE AT LEAST ONE THE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM. THAT'S ACCORDING TO THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH IN FLORIDA. CHILDREN UNDER 14 ARE PROHIBITED FROM OPENING A NEW SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT. AND ANY CHILD BETWEEN 14 AND 15 YEARS OF AGE NEEDS PARENTAL PERMISSION. BUT SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES ARE COMING UNDER SCRUTINY FOR FAILING TO PREVENT UNDERAGE USERS FROM BYPASSING THOSE AGE RESTRICTIONS. JUST LAST WEEK, THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION SOUND THAT META, THE PARENT COMPANY OF FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM WAS IN BREACH OF THE EUROPEAN. THE SERVICES ACT FAILED TO PREVENT MINORS FROM USING THEIR SERVICES WGCUS TEDDY BYRNE LEARNED THE COMPANY IS NOW TURNING TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO ENSURE ALL ACTIVE ACCOUNTS, OUR AGE APPROPRIATE. >> SO TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS BEING USED TO KEEP KIDS SAFE ON SOCIAL MEDIA. I'M JOINED BY GEN HANLEY, THE HEAD OF NORTH AMERICAN SAFETY WITH META. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US TODAY. >> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME. SO JUST LAST WEEK, THE EUROPEAN UNION FOUND META IN BREACH OF ITS DIGITAL SERVICES ACT FAILING TO PREVENT MINORS FROM USING INSTAGRAM AND FACEBOOK. >> SO HOW DOES INCORPORATING AI ASSIST IN IDENTIFYING THESE ACCOUNTS? >> YEAH. SO, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE BEEN FOR A VERY LONG TIME WORKING TO FIND AND REMOVE UNDERAGE ACCOUNTS FROM OUR PLATFORMS. YOU HAVE TO BE 13 AND OVER TO USE FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM AND WHAT WE'RE REALLY WANT TO TALK ABOUT TODAY IS ADVANCEMENTS IN TECHNOLOGY THAT ARE ALLOWING US TO REALLY STRENGTHEN OUR WORK TO DETECT AND REMOVE THOSE ACCOUNTS. AGAIN, IT'S SOMETHING WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON FOR MANY YEARS, BUT AI IS HELPING US. IT'S REALLY HELPING US LOOK ACROSS ACCOUNTS AT THINGS MORE THAN JUST LIKE AN ADMISSION THAT SOMEONE, YOU KNOW, MIGHT SAY I'M 12 YEARS OLD, FOR EXAMPLE, WE'RE NOW ABLE TO USE AI TO LOOK AT CAN TEXTUAL CLUES, INFORMATION SUCH AS SOMEONE POSTING ABOUT HAPPY BIRTHDAY WITH WITH AGES. WHAT GRADE THEY'RE IN. AND WERE EVEN ABLE TO USE VISUAL ANALYSIS NOW TO HELP THOSE THESE ARE ONGOING EFFORTS. THESE AREN'T JUST, YOU KNOW, TO KEEP TO ONE PARTICULAR THING WE'VE REALLY BEEN WORKING AT THIS FOR MANY YEARS. EYES IS REALLY HELPING STRENGTHEN THIS WORK. >> SO WHEN ANYONE SIGNS UP FOR AN ACCOUNT, THEY CAN EASILY BYPASSED THE AGE RESTRICTIONS BY SIMPLY STAYING. THEY'RE OLDER THAN THEY ARE. SO ARE YOU MORE ATTACKING THE ACCOUNT ALREADY THAT ARE IN EXISTENCE AND THEN USING AI TO VERIFY THOSE ACCOUNTS AND THEN MAYBE GET THEM OFF THE PLATFORMS AFTER THE FACT. >> SO, YOU KNOW, UNDERSTANDING AGES, MULTIFACETED. WE HAVE A MULTI-LAYERED APPROACH TO THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING. SO WE DO HAVE THAT AGE AT SIGN UP. BUT WE DO ARE ALSO INVESTING IN THESE SYSTEMS, KIND OF WORKING BEHIND THE SCENES SO SOMEONE MIGHT PUT THEIR AGENT AT SIGN UP. AND THEN YOU KNOW, WE DO KNOW SOME TEENS MISREPRESENT THEIR AGE. THEY MAY TRY TO SAY THAT THEY'RE AN ADULT, FOR EXAMPLE. SO WE HAVE WORKED TO DEVELOP SYSTEMS THAT LOOK FOR SIGNALS THAT SOMEONE MIGHT BE SAYING THEY'RE AN ADULT BUT ACTUALLY BE THE YOUNGER. WE HAVE TEAM ACCOUNT PROTECTIONS FOR TEENS. THESE ARE REALLY GREAT TEAM DEFAULT EXPERIENCES THERE. SAFEGUARDS WE HAVE IN PLACE AND WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WE KNOW SOMEONE IS A TEEN IN ORDER TO PUT THEM INTO OUR TEEN ACCOUNT EXPERIENCES. SO WE'RE USING AI AGAIN TO LOOK AT SOME OF MISREPRESENTING THAT BIRTHDATE AND THEIR OTHER SIGNALS SUCH AS THE AGE OF PEOPLE, THEY'RE INTERACTING WITH THE TYPE OF CONTENT. THEY'RE LOOKING AT ARE OTHER THINGS. WE'RE TRAINING OUR SYSTEMS TO DETECT THAT SO THAT WE CAN THEN PUT THEM INTO THE TEEN ACCOUNT SETTINGS, FOR EXAMPLE. SO THERE'S A LOT WE'RE DOING TO INVEST AND TO USE TECHNOLOGY TO TRY TO FIND THOSE WHO MIGHT BE MISREPRESENTED THEIR AGE TO EITHER DEACTIVATE THEIR ACCOUNTS, REMOVING THEM FROM THE PLATFORM OR TO PUT THEM IN THOSE STRICTER SETTINGS THAT WE HAVE IN PLACE FOR TEENS. >> AND THEN OTHER ANY OTHER SAFEGUARDS CAN BE PUT IN PLACE. I MEAN, WHEN YOU KNOW, CHILD SIGNS UP OR A TEENAGER IS LIKE THEIR APPARENT AS THE COASTLINE TO BE A JOINT ON THEIR ACCOUNT OR ALL THESE FULLY INDEPENDENT FOR TEENS UNDER THE TEEN SETTINGS THAT YOU HAVE. >> SO WE ARE TEEN ACCOUNT SETTINGS ARE FOR TEENS, THEIR DEFAULT PROTECTIONS. TEAMS ARE AUTOMATICALLY PLACED INTO THE INTO THE ACCOUNTS. APPARENT ACTUALLY DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING ELSE UNLESS THEY WANT TO. SO THEY HAVE MESSAGING RESTRICTIONS IN PLACE. PRIVACY RESTRICTIONS, CONTENT RESTRICTIONS WHEN THEY'RE IN THE TEEN ACCOUNTS FOR PARENTS WHO WANT TO DO MORE. WE HAVE PARENTAL SUPERVISION TOOLS. PARENTS CAN GET INSIGHTS INTO A LOT OF ACTIVITY ACROSS ACCOUNT LIKE WHO THAT HE HAS BEEN MESSAGING WITH. PARENTS CAN SET TIME RESTRICTIONS SO TIMES OF DAY OR, YOU KNOW, THEY CAN SAY AT AT NIGHTTIME ARE DURING THE SCHOOL DAY, YOU CAN'T USE INSTAGRAM, FOR EXAMPLE, YOU CAN ONLY USE IT FOR 15 MINUTES PER DAY. SO WE HAVE THESE DEFAULT PROTECTIONS WITH 2 COUNTS. WE HAVE THE ADDITIONAL RESTRICTIONS AND IN PLACE FOR IT THAT PARENTS CAN USE WITH PARENTAL SUPERVISION. TOOLS AND OVERALL, WE THINK SOMETHING REALLY IMPORTANT IS ACTUALLY TO HAVE PARENTS BE ABLE TO APPROVE WHAT APPS THEIR TEENS WANT TO DOWNLOAD SO THEY CAN SAY YES OR NO TO DOWNLOADING APPS LIKE INSTAGRAM OR THE MANY DIFFERENT THINGS THAT TEENS ARE USING ONLINE. >> AND THEN ONCE TEAMS ARE OF AGE CAN GET THEIR ACCOUNTS. THERE ARE STILL PARENTS THAT HAVE FEARS OF THEIR KIDS USING SOCIAL MEDIA FOR INAPPROPRIATE CONTENT. CYBER BILLY BULLYING. SO HAS YOUR WORK OF THE HEAD OF SAFETY. WHAT DO YOU DO TO HELP KEEP USERS OUT OF HARM'S WAY AND GIVE PARENTS AT EASE OF MIND IF THERE'S CHILDREN ARE USING FACEBOOK OR INSTAGRAM. >> YEAH, EXACTLY. AND SO WE THERE'S A LOT THAT WE DO IN TERMS OF THOSE TEEN ACCOUNTS, THE PARENTAL SUPERVISION TOOLS AND WHAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR FAMILIES. WE HAVE A FAMILY CENTER. SO THE META FAMILY CENTER IS REALLY A ONE-STOP SHOP FOR PARENTS. IT PROVIDES A LOT OF INFORMATION ABOUT THE TOOLS AVAILABLE FOR THEM, BUT ALSO MANY CREATE RESOURCES TO HELP EDUCATE PARENTS TO HELP THEM UNDERSTAND THE TOOLS THAT ARE IN PLACE FOR TEENS AND EVEN CONVERSATION STARTERS FROM EXPERTS THAT WE WORK WITH. AND RIGHT NOW, EVEN WITH THIS, THIS AGE INSURANCE MOMENT THAT WE HAVE, WE'RE ACTUALLY NOTIFYING PARENTS AND PROVIDING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION THAT, YOU KNOW, A CHILD PSYCHOLOGIST HELPED US RIGHT AND HELP SCRIPT FOR US SO THAT PARENTS CAN TALK TO THEIR TEENS ABOUT ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING, AGE ONLINE AND BEING IN THAT AGE, APPROPRIATE MET. HIS FAMILY CENTER IS A REALLY GREAT STARTING PLACE. PARENTS ARE OVERWHELMED. THERE'S LOTS OF INFORMATION OUT THERE. WE WANT TO MAKE THIS EASY AND GIVE THEM PEACE OF MIND. AND THAT'S WHY WE BUILT THE TOOLS AND PROTECTIONS THAT WE HAVE. AND WE HAVE RESOURCES FOR THEM AS WELL. >> SO WITH THESE DECISIONS THAT ARE COMING DOWN FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION THAT WILL HELP GUIDELINE. I'M SURE YOU'RE PROTOCOLS AND SAFETY STANDARDS MOVING FORWARD. WHERE DO YOU HOPE TO SEE THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA GOING, ESPECIALLY AS MORE AND MORE TEENS ARE GETTING INVOLVED IN THIS JUST BECOMES PART OF EVERYDAY LIFE OF HAVING THESE ACCOUNTS. >> YEAH. SO I CAN'T SPEAK TO ANY SPECIFICS WITH THE EUROPEAN UNION, BUT WHAT I CAN SAY IS WE DO THINK THERE'S A REALLY IMPORTANT ROLE THAT GOVERNMENTS CAN PLAY WHEN IT COMES TO UNDERSTANDING AGE. WE ARE ONE OF SO MANY DIFFERENT APPS THAT TEENS ARE USING EVERY DAY. THIS, YOU KNOW, AGE ASSURANCE, UNDERSTAND AGES SOMETHING EVERYONE INDUSTRY IS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT. WE REALLY DO THINK THAT CENTRALIZING AGE VERIFICATION AND PARENTAL APPROVAL SHOULD HAPPEN AT THE APP STORE. SO THAT'S AN IMPORTANT THING THAT GOVERNMENTS CAN DO IS REALLY HAVING THAT ONE PLACE WHERE YOU COULD HAVE A CENTRALIZED STANDARDIZED AND REALLY PRIVACY PROTECTIVE WAY TO GET THE AGE VERIFICATION AND THAT PRETZEL APPROVAL SO PARENTS CAN MAKE A DETERMINATION OF WHERE THEY WANT THEIR TEENS TO BE. >> ALL RIGHT. WELL, JEN HALEY FROM ED, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO TALK TO US TODAY. >> THANKS SO MUCH FOR HAVING