In the largest single-company consumer-protection payout in state history, Meta has agreed to fork over a record $52.6 million to South Dakota to settle claims that its social media products were designed in ways that harmed children.
Announcing the settlement, which was the result of a multistate lawsuit, South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley pushed for at least some of the funding to go toward beefing up the state's consumer-protection division, per the South Dakota Searchlight.
Here's what to know
Ultimately, lawmakers in South Dakota, not the attorney general's office, will decide how to use the state's share of the $17.1 billion multistate settlement with Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.
Though the funds will initially go to the state's consumer-protection fund, the attorney general's office needs legislative approval to allocate the money toward specific purposes. By the settlement's own terms, at least 50% of the funds must go toward addressing social media's impact on children, according to South Dakota Searchlight.
Even so, Jackley urged that some of the funds be routed back into consumer-protection efforts. The South Dakota consumer-protection division presently employs just two attorneys and six investigators tasked with addressing more than 86,000 complaints per year.
South Dakota's total take from the settlement could increase to more than $73 million if the companies behind YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat also settle.
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According to South Dakota Searchlight, South Dakota was one of 29 states alleging that Meta's platforms ensnared young users and hurt children. The state's share of the settlement funds also includes $4.5 million related to claims that Meta shared private user data with Cambridge Analytica during the 2016 election cycle.
More background
According to Jackley, the Meta agreement is the largest settlement South Dakota has ever received from a single company. He noted that tobacco and opioid litigation brought in larger sums overall, but those cases involved multiple corporate defendants.
In addition to the remaining tech-giant defendants, other legal fights over social media continue. South Dakota Searchlight reported that the Standing Rock, Cheyenne River, Oglala, and Sisseton-Wahpeton tribes still have active lawsuits against Meta, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube.
What's being done?
With state legislators entrusted with allocating the settlement funds, Jackley said he wants lawmakers to add "guardrails" so the money can go toward helping children.
He also floated the idea of hiring more attorneys for the state's consumer-protection division.
"When you're bringing in upwards of $73.6 million, I think it justifies building up the team," he said.
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