South Korea’s media regulator has said that Meta’s new protections for young users should ideally apply worldwide rather than only in the markets that forced them, which is a modest-sounding statement with a substantial ask inside it.
The measures in question come from Meta’s settlement with US state attorneys general, and the company has already signalled that they do not travel automatically.
The Korea Media and Communications Commission said in a statement that social media providers needed to take greater responsibility for protecting minors.
It also pointed out that seven bills aimed at strengthening youth protection on social platforms are currently sitting in the National Assembly.
What Meta agreed to in the United States is unusually specific for a settlement of this kind. Accounts belonging to under-18s get a default two-hour daily limit across Facebook and Instagram combined, access blocked between midnight and 6am, and notifications switched off between 8am and 3pm on school days.
