Mike Moore, the former Mississippi attorney general who helped negotiate the historic $246 billion settlement with the tobacco industry in 1998, is now using his experience to help state AGs craft a similar agreement with social media giants. Meta agreed to pay nearly $17 billion in a settlement with a coalition of state attorneys general who accused the company of misrepresenting the extent of child mental health damage caused by Facebook and Instagram. The settlement includes daily usage limits, nighttime blocks for teenagers, enhanced age assurance measures, and tools for parents, with monitoring by an independent auditor over a five-year period. Steve Berman, one of the architects of the tobacco settlement, predicts Meta will next need to settle the school districts case, which involves some 1,200 districts accusing Meta and other platforms of intentionally developing addictive features. California AG Rob Bonta called the settlement « a floor, not a ceiling, » signaling that other lawsuits against TikTok, YouTube, and Snap remain pending.
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