Exclusive: Arturo Béjar, an ex-Facebook employee and whistleblower, said outcome ‘is not an all-clear to say the product is safe’

• Meta agrees to major changes to Facebook and Instagram in settlement

The star witness in the US government’s landmark trial against Meta believes that a multibillion-dollar settlement reached on Wednesday does not go far enough to stop the social media giant’s harms to young users.

“The limitations that are in the agreement are the equivalent of saying: ‘Well, you can smoke as many cigarettes as you can in two hours a day,’” said whistleblower and ex-Facebook employee Arturo Béjar. “It doesn’t make the cigarettes any safer.”

Dozens of states had sued Meta, alleging that it designed addictive products that led to mental health problems for young people such as disordered eating, depression and suicide. The states and the company reached a wide-ranging settlement agreement on Wednesday that will force Meta to make major changes to its platform, including putting strict limits on how much time teens are able to spend on apps like Instagram and Facebook.

Béjar’s testimony formed a key part of the government’s case. The former employee, who worked directly with Mark Zuckerberg, testified that the Meta CEO lied about the company’s commitment to child safety and ignored warnings about harmful content.

Meta rejected Béjar’s criticism that the settlement was too narrowly focused on time limits, pointing to other requirements such as a default...

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