Press ReleaseBipartisan2026-08-31

After Meta’s Historic Settlement, Congress Must Protect Children Online

TaxesTechnology

Context

This press release from Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) was published on 2026-08-31 and titled "After Meta’s Historic Settlement, Congress Must Protect Children Online".

Full Text

After Meta’s Historic Settlement, Congress Must Protect Children Online

For years, Big Tech has treated our children as nothing more than a profit source while exposing them to appalling harms. Now, the industry is beginning to face accountability. In a historic settlement with 47 states, Meta agreed to pay up to $17.1 billion in penalties to resolve claims that it designed its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, to foster harmful addiction among minors. The Big Tech giant also agreed to implement several safeguards for children, including a default two-hour time limit for minors, restrictions on push notifications during school hours, and the ability for teenagers to turn off autoplay. This settlement is a victory for parents across the country who have fought for accountability after losing their precious children to social media harms, and the bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general who secured the settlement deserve tremendous credit. More than anything, it shows that Meta is terrified of accountability in open court, settling the case in just the second week of trial before CEO Mark Zuckerberg could testify. It should come as no surprise that Meta wanted to avoid a prolonged trial. For years, my colleagues on the Senate Commerce Committee and Judiciary Committee have heard from parents, child safety advocates, and whistleblowers who have provided overwhelming evidence that the Big Tech giant has put profit over children's safety, fostering addiction among minors while turning a blind eye to the consequences. During the California trial against Meta earlier this year, Zuckerberg testified that there is no link between prolonged social media use and worse mental health outcomes - yet the company's own research showed the exact opposite. Internal Meta documents revealed that 100,000 children on Facebook and Instagram were receiving sexually explicit messages from adults each day , yet top executives refused to adjust algorithms to end the abuse. While Zuckerberg repeatedly testified before Congress that children under the age of 13 are not allowed on Meta's platforms, other internal documents showed that the company developed "social products" to target children as young as six. The reason is simple: Meta wanted to keep children doomscrolling as long as possible. The more time minors spent on its platforms, the more data the company could collect to sell to advertisers. Now, for the first time, Meta will be required to implement substantial restrictions on how often and how long children can spend on its platforms. While the changes imposed under this settlement are a first step toward giving kids and parents the tools they need to take back control of their online lives, we can't stop here. Under the settlement, Meta is only required to implement safety measures for 10 years, and other social media companies are not currently covered. While states can attempt to force changes company-by-company through litigation, only Congress can establish a uniform national standard governing how online platforms must protect children by designing with safety in mind. My bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act , which passed the Senate Commerce Committee earlier this month, would save lives by ensuring safety by design isn't optional for Big Tech companies. At the heart of the legislation is a duty of care requiring all social media platforms to prevent foreseeable dangers to children, including sexual abuse, illicit drugs, and self-harm. Almost every industrial sector has safety by design standards - whether you're buying a toaster, driving a car, or flying on a plane. The virtual space is the lone exception. When children are online, they have no protections from drug dealers, sexually explicit material, or human traffickers. The Kids Online Safety Act would ensure that they do. In the weeks ahead, I look forward to bringing this legislation to the Senate floor for a vote and ensuring that every child has the protections they need and deserve.

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After Meta’s Historic Settlement, Congress Must Protect Children Online For years, Big Tech has treated our children as nothing more than a profit source while exposing them to appalling harms. Now, the industry is beginning to face accountability. In a historic settlement with 47 states, Meta agreed to pay up to $17.1 billion in penalties to resolve claims that it designed its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, to foster harmful addiction among minors. The Big Tech giant also agreed to implement several safeguards for children, including a default two-hour time limit for minors, restrictions on push notifications during school hours, and the ability for teenagers to turn off autoplay. This settlement is a victory for parents across the country who have fought for accountability after losing their precious children to social media harms, and the bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general who secured the settlement deserve tremendous credit. More than anything, it shows that Meta is terrified of accountability in open court, settling the case in just the second week of trial before CEO Mark Zuckerberg could testify. It should come as no surprise that Meta wanted to avoid a prolonged trial. For years, my colleagues on the Senate Commerce Committee and Judiciary Committee have heard from parents, child safety advocates, and whistleblowers who have provided overwhelming evidence that the Big Tech giant has put profit over children's safety, fostering addiction among minors while turning a blind eye to the consequences. During the California trial against Meta earlier this year, Zuckerberg testified that there is no link between prolonged social media use and worse mental health outcomes - yet the company's own research showed the exact opposite. Internal Meta documents revealed that 100,000 children on Facebook and Instagram were receiving sexually explicit messages from adults each day , yet top executives refused to adjust algorithms to end the abuse. While Zuckerberg repeatedly testified before Congress that children under the age of 13 are not allowed on Meta's platforms, other internal documents showed that the company developed "social products" to target children as young as six. The reason is simple: Meta wanted to keep children doomscrolling as long as possible. The more time minors spent on its platforms, the more data the company could collect to sell to advertisers. Now, for the first time, Meta will be required to implement substantial restrictions on how often and how long children can spend on its platforms. While the changes imposed under this settlement are a first step toward giving kids and parents the tools they need to take back control of their online lives, we can't stop here. Under the settlement, Meta is only required to implement safety measures for 10 years, and other social media companies are not currently covered. While states can attempt to force changes company-by-company through litigation, only Congress can establish a uniform national standard governing how online platforms must protect children by designing with safety in mind. My bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act , which passed the Senate Commerce Committee earlier this month, would save lives by ensuring safety by design isn't optional for Big Tech companies. At the heart of the legislation is a duty of care requiring all social media platforms to prevent foreseeable dangers to children, including sexual abuse, illicit drugs, and self-harm. Almost every industrial sector has safety by design standards - whether you're buying a toaster, driving a car, or flying on a plane. The virtual space is the lone exception. When children are online, they have no protections from drug dealers, sexually explicit material, or human traffickers. The Kids Online Safety Act would ensure that they do. In the weeks ahead, I look forward to bringing this legislation to the Senate floor for a vote and ensuring that every child has the protections they need and deserve.