California could soon receive as much as $2.1 billion from Meta as part of a settlement over allegations that Facebook and Instagram were designed in ways that harmed children and teens.
That is an enormous amount of money—and an enormous opportunity.
The proposed settlement calls for California’s share to be used for purposes related to preventing or addressing mental health and other harms to young Californians associated with social media.
That is appropriate. But there is another question state leaders need to answer: How much of that money will actually make its way into the communities where California’s children live?
Our elected officials should make sure the answer is: a significant amount.
They should make their voices heard now. Assemblymembers Gail Pellerin and Robert Rivas, along with state Sen. Dave Cortese, represent the South Valley and San Benito County in Sacramento. They should push the Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom to ensure that a meaningful share of California’s Meta settlement money reaches the communities where children and families are dealing with the consequences of social media use.
This is not the time for Sacramento to simply add billions of dollars to the state’s general pool of money. If the settlement is intended to address harm to California’s children, then California’s children—and the schools, counselors, nonprofits and communities that serve them—should see the benefit.
We encourage residents, school leaders, mental health professionals and community organizations to contact Pellerin, Rivas and Cortese and ask them a simple question: How will you make sure this money comes home?
It would be all too easy for billions of dollars to arrive in Sacramento, get absorbed into the state budget and disappear into a sea of competing priorities. That cannot be allowed to happen.
The lawsuit was about protecting children from the potential mental health harms associated with social media.
Those children don’t live in Sacramento; they live here and in communities throughout California. They attend local schools, use local mental health services and rely on local organizations and counselors when they need help.
The settlement also includes meaningful changes to Meta’s platforms, including limits on screen time for minors, nighttime restrictions, enhanced parental controls, stronger age verification and other protections. Those changes are important.
But technology changes alone won’t undo the damage that has already been done or help every young person struggling with anxiety, depression, isolation or other challenges associated with social media use.
That is where the money comes in.
This isn’t about creating another Sacramento bureaucracy. It’s about making sure the money collected because of alleged harm to California’s children is actually used to help California’s children.
Local communities understand their own needs better than state officials. A school district dealing with a shortage of counselors may have a very different need than a rural community struggling to provide basic mental health services. Funding should recognize those differences.
The settlement is being called transformative. Let’s make sure it actually transforms something where it matters most—in the lives of young people and families.
Meta may be writing the check, but California’s children are the reason it was written.
Sacramento should make sure the money doesn’t stop in Sacramento.
