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Meta is urging governments to carve out exemptions for certain online services as lawmakers around the world move forward with stricter child safety regulations aimed at limiting young users' access to social media.
The Facebook and Instagram parent company argues that not every digital platform should be treated the same under new age-restriction laws. Meta has specifically called for services focused on messaging, education, gaming, or productivity to receive exemptions, while maintaining that traditional social media platforms should not shoulder the entire burden of age verification. Instead, the company continues to advocate for app stores operated by Apple and Google to handle age verification at the device level, creating a universal system across all apps.
The debate comes as countries including Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, and several European nations introduce or consider legislation designed to better protect children online. Many of these proposals would require platforms to verify users' ages, restrict access for minors, or face significant financial penalties for failing to comply. Governments argue the measures are necessary to address concerns over cyberbullying, harmful content, addictive algorithms, and declining mental health among young users.
Meta says a consistent, platform-wide approach would be more effective than requiring each individual app to develop its own age verification system. Critics, however, argue that large social media companies should remain directly responsible for ensuring children cannot bypass age restrictions on their services, particularly as regulators worldwide increase scrutiny of Big Tech's role in protecting young users.
As child online safety becomes one of the fastest-growing areas of tech regulation, the outcome of these debates could reshape how millions of young people access social media—and determine how much responsibility companies like Meta ultimately bear for keeping minors safe online.