Arturo Béjar, a former Facebook employee and whistleblower who testified as the key witness in the US government's landmark trial against Meta, has sharply criticized the company's multibillion-dollar settlement announced Wednesday, arguing that it fails to meaningfully reduce harms to teenage 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,'" Béjar said. "It doesn't make the cigarettes any safer."

Béjar's remarks, made exclusively to the Guardian, come on the same day that Meta agreed to major changes to Facebook and Instagram as part of the settlement with US authorities. The exact terms of the agreement have not been fully disclosed, but it is understood to include restrictions on how long minors can use the platforms and other modifications aimed at addressing addiction and mental health concerns.

While the settlement represents a significant legal milestone — the culmination of a trial that drew national attention to Meta's product design and its effects on adolescents — Béjar warned that it should not be interpreted as a clean bill of health. "This is not an all clear to say the product is safe," he said.

Béjar previously worked at Facebook as a researcher and engineer, where he studied the impact of the platform on young users. He later became a whistleblower, providing internal documents and testimony that helped shape the government's case. His testimony described how Meta's algorithms and features, such as infinite scrolling and notification prompts, were designed to maximize engagement in ways that could harm vulnerable teens.

Supporters of the settlement note that it imposes concrete changes to how Meta designs its products for minors, including time limits and new safety defaults. They argue that the agreement is a step forward in holding a major tech company accountable for its practices, and that the changes will have immediate effect for millions of young users.

However, Béjar's criticism highlights a broader debate about whether such legal agreements can adequately address the underlying incentives of social media companies. He suggested that without deeper structural changes — such as independent oversight or a redesign of the platforms' core mechanics — teenagers will continue to be exposed to harm, even within the boundaries of the settlement.

Meta has previously said it invests heavily in teen safety and parental controls, and the company has denied that its platforms cause mental health harm. The company has not yet publicly responded to Béjar's latest comments.

The trial and settlement come amid a wider global push to regulate social media platforms and protect minors online. Several US states have introduced or passed laws requiring age verification and stricter parental consent, while the UK and European Union have enacted their own digital safety rules.

Béjar's statement adds a note of caution to what many have greeted as a victory for regulators. As he put it, limiting the time a teenager spends on a harmful product does not change the fact that the product itself remains harmful.