By Dean Miller
State officials say it’s unclear whether media literacy programs will be eligible for funds from the $17 billion Meta agreed to pay the 48 states who sued over the harm Meta social media platforms have done to youth.
While media literacy might seem, to AME members, an obvious investment to make with the settlement funds, it’s not clear preventive education will qualify.
The terms of the settlement direct the funds to be used for policy initiatives and programs that support mental health, said Mike Faulk, a spokesperson for Washington’s state Attorney General. “An example of the kind of program this money can support is HearMeWA—a free helpline our office created to connect young people across Washington to trained crisis counselors 24/7 so they can get help, report a concern, or support friends,” Faulk wrote in an email to the Action for Media Education newsletter.
Asked if media literacy education could be considered preventive support for mental health, Faulk said no decisions have been made and that the Attorney General’s staff will be discussing disbursement of the funds with “state leaders.” He said any timeline or description of how funds will be spent would be speculation on his part.
But Megan Arndt, an assistant to Sen. Mike Chapman, D-Port Angeles, said material shared with legislators fills in the blanks a bit, including (bold text added by AME newsletter):
- Crisis intervention services, specifically the expansion and operation of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and text-based youth crisis lines;
- After school or summer programs, such as sports, literacy, dance, and other activities;
- Public health advertising credits;
- A digital wellness public education fund;
- Funding outdoor activities;
- Youth mental health programming;
- Support the hiring of digital literacy counselors or implement phone-free school zone
- Training for medical providers on interactive media use and body dysmorphia;
- Grants to school districts or other local government entities to accomplish any remedial purpose encompassed here;
- Any similar remedial or restitutive purposes as those described above; and
- Investigation, litigation, and related efforts to improve teen safety on social media.
Led by California, Washington and 50 other states and territories alleged Meta knowingly failed to protect children on Facebook and Instagram.
Washington’s maximum possible share, according to a chart in the consent judgment, is $338 million. Meta’s reported net income for 2025 was $60 billion.
Meta did not admit fault, but settled before the case went to trial. After the settlement agreement was entered in the record, federal district judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers boiled it down to a judgement binding Meta to, among other things:
- Set daily limits and blocks on nighttime use by teenagers with accounts on its platforms: Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Threads;
- Eliminate school-hours push notifications;
- Limit social comparison features
- Beef up age-gating to keep children off the platforms;
- Add tools to help parents and guardians protect their children online;
- Pay the plaintiffs up to $18 billion over the next decade.
At the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, which this year added media literacy to the Washington’s ELA standards, the Media Literacy Supervisor said they won’t know how the settlement funds will be used until the Attorney General and Governor decide.
“Digital citizenship instruction is definitely a way to address the mental health impacts of social media use,” Lesley James wrote in an email to AME’s newsletter, “but I don’t know of any case being made related to the Meta settlement.”
Faulk said teachers, parents and students can suggest uses of the settlement funds through this contact form: https://fortress.wa.gov/atg/formhandler/ago/ContactForm.aspx
The AME newsletter reached out to the offices of the Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader to enquire when Washingtonians will be involved in discussions. No response had been received in time for publication.