Big Tech company Meta is lobbying California lawmakers to shield it from legislation that would increase legal penalties in child-harm cases, according to two people familiar with the effort, two people told Politico.
Lobbyists have approached lawmakers in California with amendments for social media companies like Meta to be exempt from the law, which threatens fines of up to $1 million per child for platforms found liable for harming kids through negligent product design, Politico reported.
A hearing on the bill will be held next Tuesday.
The amendments proposed by Meta would exempt social media platforms from increased penalties in child harm cases if the companies activate a suite of default child safety settings, according to Politico.
Settings include disabling autoplay, restricting geolocation data sharing, and preventing kids from receiving direct messages from unknown adults, Politico reported.
If social media companies want safe harbor from liability, it would require them to implement tools for parents to restrict screen time, hide their kids’ profiles from public view and be able to monitor who their kids interact with online and report misconduct, Politico said.
The amendments, if accepted by lawmakers, could see reduced payouts in cases where parents and young people have accused social media companies like Facebook of designing platforms that led to addiction, depression, and suicide, Politico reported.
Meta previously lobbed for a similar bill that was eventually scrapped. Meta declined comment to Politico.
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