Years of legal battles, proposed laws and public advocacy have led to a historic settlement to make social media safer for kids.But the case is far from closed,
Years of legal battles, proposed laws and public advocacy have led to a historic settlement to make social media safer for kids.
But the case is far from closed, and we're following the money and the impact.
Emme Leonard believes social media influenced her eating disorder when she was a teenager.
"Social media found ways to reaffirm my toxic thought patterns," she recalled. "Workout programs, all kinds of diet culture messages, and in that way, those algorithms really just reinforced my already toxic and unhealthy patterns."
Now 22 years old, she said she had to delete the apps to get better.
Emme Leonard believes social media worsened her eating disorder (Photo: Emme Leonard)Her story is one of many, with mounting medical evidence that excessive social media use can harm young people, according to pediatrician Christopher Longhurst, who is the CEO of Seattle Children's Hospital and a father of teens as well.
"There's tremendous amount of accumulating evidence that suggests the rise in mental health crises, depression, anxiety, and even suicide is strongly correlated with increase in cell phone and social media use by teenagers," said Dr. Longhurst.
Dr. Longhurst said a ban should be considered.
"What we've been doing is not working," he told Spotlight on America.
Dr. Longhurst supports a ban on social media to protect kids (Photo: KOMO)Other countries have tried. Australia led the world, banning social media for kids under 16, but whether the ban has been effective remains to be seen.
Dr. Jeff Hancock, founding director of the Stanford Social Media Lab, consulted with Australia on the ban.
He said three months in, they saw a 20% decline in the number of kids that had accounts, but admits there's more work to do.
The law in Australia is focused on age verification.
"That was an untouchable conversation even two years ago, the idea that you'd have to verify how old somebody was," said Dr. Hancock. "The law itself is aimed at account ownership and it puts all the emphasis on the companies. It's not like drinking laws or driving laws here where the onus is on the person. This is all on the companies."
Jeff Hancock consulted with Australia on its social media ban (Photo: KOMO)Still, social media companies have faced little accountability here in the United States until now.
47 states agreed to a settlement that forces Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, to pay up to $17 billion over the next decade for claims its sites harmed children.
To see how much each state will receive, click here. California will get the most money, at $1.5 billion.
It also forces them to put new safeguards into place.
Meta made about $200 billion in 2025 alone, making the settlement appear like a drop in the bucket.
Meta made $200 billion in 2025 alone (Photo: SBG)But Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown told Spotlight on America that it's much more than a slap on the wrist.
"Meta did a lot of harm," he said. "Meta did harm. They knew about the harm. They lied about that harm."
The company denies all allegations of harming children and does not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
Brown said the penalties for violating it are strict.
"The biggest part of the settlement agreement is that it puts in place an independent auditor that both Meta and the states have to jointly agree on, and that auditor gets immediate access now to Facebook data, algorithms, programs," he said. "There are really strict penalties that Meta would face if they don't abide by that."
Attorney General Nick Brown said the settlement is more than a slap on the wrist for Meta (Photo: TK Johnson)It will take months, if not years, for states to receive the money, and questions remain about how it will be spent, whether on crisis intervention, phone-free zones, or mental health professionals.
Today, Leonard said she limits her screen time and is now in medical school, looking to help others who have also dipped their fingers into social media and learned life is better in the real world.
"I'm just excited for the road ahead," she said.
Emme Leonard is now in medical school (Photo: KOMO)This settlement does not end all litigation against Meta. In fact, multiple lawsuits being brought by school districts are moving forward. The next one, from an Arizona school district, is slated for trial early next year.
In a blog post about the settlement, Meta said keeping teens safe is "imperative," and the company wants to "get this right" for parents and teens.
Meta has denied responsibility but agreed to a $17 billion settlement with states (Photo: SBG)Meanwhile, Meta says 30% of the settlement amount will only be released if its rivals, YouTube and TikTok implement similar safety features and pay the same amount split between the two companies. Whether they take that action remains to be seen.
You can watch our full conversation with Washington's Attorney General below:
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