Following Today’s Meta Settlement, Congress Must Act on Kids Online Safety Legislation

OAKLAND, Calif. — In response to today’s settlement forcing Meta to pay up to $17.1 billion dollars for creating addictive products for kids and teens, which included 47 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories, Issue One released the following statement:

“Today’s Meta settlement shows that Big Tech is not invincible and that it is possible to create healthier and safer social media platforms for children. In this battle, David finally beat Goliath,” said Former Majority Leader and Issue One Council for Responsible Social Media (CRSM) Co-Chair Dick Gephardt. “However, Big Tech companies will continue to do everything in their power to profit and avoid accountability. This means deliberately harming children with addictive and dangerous products and twisting Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act into a shield —  language that I championed during my time in Congress, but that I now feel is tearing our country apart. Congress must build on the momentum being generated by the courts and pass comprehensive legislation to make online platforms better for children and our democracy.”

Former Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor and Issue One Council for Responsible Social Media (CRSM) Co-Chair Kerry Healey: 

“This settlement is a meaningful victory for our young people. The unprecedented youth mental health crisis has been allowed to continue for too long, while Big Tech companies have profited by fanning the flames of our young people’s vulnerabilities. The design features that Big Tech uses to addict young people are the same ones they use to capture the attention of American voters by amplifying angry and divisive voices, sowing division in our country’s politics and distrust in our core institutions. By taking this step toward defending our children, we are also taking an important step toward defending our democracy.”

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Issue One is the leading crosspartisan political reform group in Washington, D.C. We unite Republicans, Democrats, and independents in the movement to fix our broken political system and build an inclusive democracy that works for everyone.