On Tuesday, Meta announced new measures to protect minors on Instagram – shamefully years overdue.

“Teen accounts” have been introduced, giving parents more control and limiting what content their children can see and who can contact them.

It is a big step forward for children’s online safety, sure – but not close to a complete solution.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg isn’t making this move out of the goodness of his heart. After years of cover-up, Meta had to back down in the face of clear evidence (which the company itself had swept under the rug) of the damage that recklessly exploiting children’s eyes has on young brains.

It’s important to remember that the company deliberately aimed to turn as many kids as possible into addicted, doomscrolling zombies, using so-called “engagement metrics” (consumption levels) as its only reference point.

Ask any parent of teenagers: screen time is a depressingly constant flashpoint of family discord.

Three out of four Gen Z members say social media has had a negative impact on their mental health – and Instagram and TikTok bear the lion’s share of the blame.

Now Zuckerberg is obviously trying to mitigate tougher action with the Kids Online Safety Act.

This bill, which is gaining momentum in Congress, would impose a “duty of care” on social media platforms and require them to avoid Characteristics that contribute to harassment, bullying, sexual exploitation or mental disorders such as anxiety and depression in minors.

Meta’s new security measures are practically copied and pasted from some Among the measures called for in the bill are, for example, giving parents control over privacy and account settings and setting time limits on their child’s account.

Instagram’s policies would also block notifications between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. (it would still be parents’ responsibility to block or restrict minors’ nighttime access to the app entirely), limit followers’ access to the content of minors’ profiles (making them “private” by default), restrict who can contact minors, and send reminders to force minors off the app if they have scrolled in it for more than 60 minutes per day.

It’s all ok: But This will not solve the problem that social media app algorithms are intentionally addictive or that social media causes depression and anxiety among children and teenagers at an alarming rate.

And it’s not clear how Instagram plans to prevent teens from circumventing restrictions entirely by simply lying about their age.

But there is a Reason Surgeon General Vivek Murthy calls for a warning on social media sites: Children who spend more than three hours a day on social media double their risk of depression or anxiety disorder.

Given their past behavior, social media companies do not deserve the public’s trust. If they cared one iota about the societal consequences of their actions, they would have taken these small steps years ago.

Congress should still pass KOSA.