Colorado mom who lost daughter to social media addiction says Meta settlement is a turning point

Social media giant Meta has agreed to a historic $17 billion settlement with multiple states, including Colorado, in a lawsuit over social media addiction.

Colorado was one of dozens of states that accused Meta of intentionally designing a product that's addictive to children. The company will now pay the states a portion of the settlement, including nearly $615 million to Colorado.

A Colorado mom who lost her daughter to suicide after becoming addicted to social media said the settlement "is a turning point" and a start to getting the attention of big tech platforms.

Lori Schott calls herself a "survivor parent." Her daughter Annalee struggled with depression and anxiety and took her own life in 2020. Schott says her daughter was kind, had a heart as big as the outdoors and was one of the bravest kids she knew.

"She was fighting this world on her own because the algorithms told her to isolate herself from her parents and that suicide was the only way to stop the pain. How do you handle that as a child?" asked Schott. "We found out the alignment with the impacts of social media on her mental health. She left journals and trails of information that pushed us to get out in front of the public and tell her story."

Since 2020, Schott has fought for stronger protections in Colorado and across the country to keep children safe against social media. She believes the changes and reforms with the landmark settlement will help save the lives of many children.

"This is a product design problem that is happening wherever these products touch children's lives. So today is a good day," said Schott.

Under the settlement terms, Meta will limit children's use of Facebook and Instagram to two hours a day and block kids from using the platforms between midnight and 6 a.m. It also limits notifications at night and during the school day.

"It's a monumental victory for America's kids," said Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser. "These new measures will encourage kids to take breaks, will protect them against harmful features. They will include age assurance technology and much more."

Meta will also have stronger parental controls and limit features like beauty filters and "like" counts.

"This is long overdue. Too many kids have suffered. We are taking a critical step forward to protect kids in the future," said Weiser.

Colorado will get nearly $615 million dollars over nine years, with the money going toward mental health and the safety of Colorado children. Weiser said it's still too early to give a breakdown of exactly where the money will go.

"I can say the purpose of these funds is to address youth mental health that we know has been harmed by the behavior of Meta and other social media companies," said Weiser. "We will be working to ensure those funds are put to use over the months ahead, but at this point, we don't have any more specifics."

An auditor will work with the states that are a part of the settlement to implement and assess the changes.

It's a step forward and accomplishment for parents, like Schott; however, many believe more work still needs to be done.

"What I said to her was, 'This is her victory too,'" said Weiser.

"These platforms, it's going to stop. They're not going get their hands on any more of our children," said Schott. "These children are the symbolism, even though they're not here on this earth right now, their impact is going to have an effect that lasts for generations."

Lynn Schofield Clark, a professor of media, film and journalism studies at the University of Denver, has researched social media and its impacts on young people for close to 20 years. She called the settlement, "a landmark settlement."

"We need to have more control over our social media environment, and this is a really important step in that direction," said Schofield Clark. "There are bound to be some really good outcomes of this."

However, Schofield Clark said the settlement could put a large responsibility on parents to better understand the platforms and how they work.

"We don't really have a lot of mechanisms right now to help parents to gain the kind of social media literacy that might be needed to provide the guidance necessary to make this work. I think that's one of the things that's going to be a challenge coming down the road," said Schofield Clark. "Who is going to be responsible for helping young people to actually understand these systems and how they want to set them up?"