For years, I’ve worked to keep kids safer when they pick up a smartphone. Bills from past legislative sessions, including S1222 in 2024, focused on making it easier for parents to limit the adult content kids can access. It seemed like a simple goal to protect kids, but the tech industry’s response made it clear they objected to any changes.
We’ve also heard the ongoing debate about social media’s impact on kids and teenagers. Social media companies appeared unconcerned about the risks. But things may be changing. State attorneys general filed suit against Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. These states argue that Meta’s apps violated consumer protection laws and the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998.
Evidence from internal documents presented during the trial this year made it clear. Company executives knew what they were doing. Recognizing the potential financial risk (states were seeking up to $200 billion), Meta agreed to settle its largest cases to date with 48 states.
The Wall Street Journal reported a settlement of up to $18 billion along with some programming changes. Only the first 70%, or about $12.7 billion, is guaranteed. That number pencils out to roughly $1.3 billion per year. For comparison, Meta reported a 2025 net income of $60.46 billion. Yes, you read correctly. Meta will pay about 2% of its annual income to these states for the next 10 years. That seems like a pretty good deal for the company.
Now, this settlement does represent positive news. Meta will also implement safety features on its apps, including time limits and muted notifications. But perhaps most frustrating, some changes, like opting out of the algorithm, will remain optional. Any bets that you know more than your teen about phone and app settings?
The remainder of the proposed settlement, about $5.3 billion, will go to states only if TikTok and YouTube make similar changes to their platforms. Also, Meta’s adoption of time limits and blocking overnight access expires in five years if TikTok and YouTube fail to adopt these changes during that window. Even if these other apps do make changes, Meta must only provide these protections for up to 10 years.
I share these details because I think you should understand that these apps exist to make money off our time and attention. Our kids aren’t excluded from that equation. You may have heard these companies compared to Big Tobacco.
Big Tobacco needed to recruit its next generation of smokers and targeted teens. If these apps fail to bring in their next generation of users, how can they sustain the business model? These companies only make money when we’re actively engaging with the services.
I hope these changes will lessen the negative impact of spending hours on social media. But I’m left with questions the settlement doesn’t address. Why are we making teen safety features optional or negotiable?
I don’t expect any lawsuit by itself to answer the larger questions about what we should expect from social media apps. It shouldn’t have taken a lawsuit for Meta or any of the other companies to do right by our kids. I expect us to do a better job as policymakers of holding these companies accountable for the risk they pose to our kids. You should expect more of us, too.