After Meta settlement, Wisconsin lawmakers say there’s still a lot to be done to protect kids online

Wisconsin lawmakers who have sought to address child safety online told the Wisconsin Examiner on Thursday that a settlement worth up to $17.1 billion between the owner of Facebook and Instagram and most states in the U.S. is a win, but that it leaves a lot to be done to protect kids.

Wisconsin was one of 47 states involved in a lawsuit, filed in 2023 against Meta, that alleged that the social media giant purposely designed its platforms with addictive features, knew it was exposing children to serious mental harms and intentionally misled the public about the safety of those platforms. 

Wisconsin is set to receive between $219 million and $313 million from the settlement, depending on whether other social media companies agree to the terms. The company in its settlement did not admit to wrongdoing.

For years, concerns about the safety of children online and efforts to protect their mental and physical health have been bubbling up. Wisconsin has adopted laws to ban cellphones during class time and recently expanded its Wisconsin’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Rep. Lindee Brill (R-Sheboygan Falls) and Rep. Renuka Mayadev (D-Madison) were part of a group of lawmakers tasked with studying ways the state could protect children online during the 2025-26 legislative session. The task force resulted in an array of proposed bills aimed at addressing the issue, though many — including barring addictive features online for young users, age verification requirements, prohibition against chatbots for children without safety features and mental health warning on social media — did not become law.

“It’s unfortunate that it got to the point that we’ve seen children lose their lives, go through mental health situations,” Brill said. “I believe these platforms understood what they were doing was damaging to children, so while it’s a win, it’s unfortunate that we had to reach a settlement to get this taken care of when this wasn’t addressed previously.”

Mayadev said Meta “capitulated” with the settlement and that “it’s about time” something was done.  

“Young people are feeling more than ever lonely, have had increased suicide ideation, have had more anxiety and eating disorders. We’ve just seen the tremendous detrimental effects of social media,” Mayadev said. 

Both lawmakers said that the settlement is just a start.

During a Wednesday press conference, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said the settlement is the largest Big Tech settlement in the history of the country and the largest state consumer protection settlement since the settlements with Big Tobacco in the 1990s. 

According to the New York Times, the Meta settlement’s base cost will be $12 billion, but an additional $5 billion will be paid by Meta if other social media companies also agree to pay in $5 billion. The company has also agreed to the two-hour limit on screen time for children, though it could be decreased to a one-hour limit if other companies agree to the same.

Kaul said the next step is to determine where the funding should go. 

“What I’m going to be doing is everything I can to put these funds toward keeping kids safe in Wisconsin,” Kaul said. The funds, he added, could go towards initiatives such as crisis intervention services, after-school programming and digital wellness use and mental health programming.

Brill noted that while the settlement seems like a lot of money, it is only a small portion of what the multi-trillion dollar company brings in each year.

“I don’t think we can put a worth on the number of children and the damage it’s caused, so while we should celebrate it, I think it’s a cautious celebration because there’s so much work to do and so much loss that came in the meantime,” Brill said. 

Brill and Mayadev said they’d both like lawmakers to be involved in conversations over where the funds are allocated.

Kaul said the most important piece of the settlement is the sweeping safety changes Meta has agreed to make to its platforms. 

“I hope they can set a new standard for the entire industry so that kids who are using social media can stay safe and remain healthy as they’re online,” Kaul said. 

Changes include stronger age verification of users between the ages of 13 and 17, mandatory pauses at 15 minutes, 60 minutes and 90 minutes, limiting screen time for teenagers up to 17 for two hours a day, restrictions on access at night and an elimination of push notifications during school hours. 

“We’re gonna see stronger, more friendly, user-friendly parental controls in place as well, so parents are going to be able more easily to play a larger role in limiting their kids’ use of these platforms,” Kaul said. Beauty filters — which distort a user’s face in real time to change its shape or add makeup — will also be limited. 

Brill said she thinks a key part of the settlement is that the company appears to be keeping “parents in the driver’s seat .” She said she will be interested to see whether the other companies agree, however. Some of the work, she said, will be continuing to push for state-level laws that can address the issue, which she described as nonpartisan. Brill does not face a challenger in her bid for reelection this year. 

“I met some of the families who have had things happen with their children, and it’s absolutely devastating, and it doesn’t matter which way your house votes; it affects everybody,” Brill said. “We’re just seeing the mental health of our state and our children, being so affected by this, so my hope is we can make a smart decision with [the settlement funds], and that we can, as a Legislature, continue to move forward and introduce great legislation to a governor’s desk that’s willing to work with us on it.”

Mayadev said she doesn’t think  the settlement’s guardrails are sufficient.

“Why would we trust the company who has put our children in harm’s way to come up with the solution to protect them?” she said. “No parent — and I’m a parent — should feel like ‘OK, well now let me just hand over the phone and the social media apps because Meta and the other big tech CEOs are gonna care for my children.’”

Mayadev said that ideally regulations on companies would be put in place on a federal level. She said legislation would ensure it is the company’s obligation to make sure platforms are safe rather than burdening parents. She said that “children are bright” and can likely find ways around some of the changes that are being discussed. 

“At the federal level, we need our congressional folks to act because then we’d have uniform guardrails, guidelines for everybody in the United States to adhere to and to protect children,” Mayadev said. “If Congress continues not to act, we’re going to have to do it at the state level, and then what the problem with that is, it’s piecemeal. What we do is different than Minnesota, which is different than Michigan or Ohio.”