The UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, has urged governments to reform the whole social media sector to make platforms safer for children, following Meta’s large settlement with US states. He said child safety should not depend on lawsuits or voluntary company action, and argued that comparable protections should be adopted across platforms including TikTok and YouTube.

Meta agreed to pay up to $18bn (£13.3bn) to 48 US states, Washington DC and three US territories over ten years, while not admitting wrongdoing. Its proposed safeguards include time limits and parental controls, although Türk said more was needed; his UN framework also calls for stronger privacy, age verification and safer design, while opposing outright bans on children using social media.