Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill says Meta's $12 billion settlement of a multistate federal lawsuit is just the start of a crusade to protect children from websites and gaming platforms she accuses of "deceptively advertising themselves as safe for kids."
Louisiana will receive nearly $181 million in funds from the settlement, which ends a trial during which 47 state attorneys general aimed to prove that Meta deceived the public about the addiction risks posed to teens who used Facebook and Instagram. In addition to the payout, Meta has agreed to implement safeguards designed to protect children, including hard cap daily time limits, nighttime blocks, and stronger parental controls.
"This settlement is a monumental victory for the protection of America’s children and will fundamentally transform how the entire social media industry designs products for kids and teens," Murrill said in a statement. “This settlement is an earthquake when it comes to child safety reforms and Big Tech accountability. This isn’t a payoff—it’s meaningful reform that gives Louisiana the tools we need to focus on the safety of our children in the digital world."
On Wednesday, Murrill's office filed similar lawsuits against Snap and Discord in a Baton Rouge state court. Murrill claims those companies' platforms allow child predators to prey on children.
"These companies profess that their platforms are safe environments for children to communicate, but nothing could be further from the truth," Murrill said. “There’s a reason that my office continues to find child sex predators on these platforms. It used to be that a parent could finally go to sleep at night once their child was at home and in bed. Now, through platforms like Snap and Discord, the predator is already in their bedroom—on their phone, gaming device, or tablet."
