Meta’s massive proposed settlement over claims of social media harm doesn’t remove the need for legislation that would govern use of online platforms by children and teens, two leading lawmakers and advocacy groups said Wednesday.

A group of 47 states with the District of Columbia and U.S. territories reached the settlement with the owner of Facebook and Instagram for up to $18 billion and steps to put new safety features in place for young users.

The agreement, which still needs to be approved by a federal court, comes as Congress debates competing House and Senate bills that would put new parental control requirements on online platforms and give platforms different levels of responsibility to prevent harms to children and teens. 

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., sponsored the Senate bill, known as the Kids Online Safety Act or KOSA. In a statement Wednesday with one of the bill’s co-sponsors, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Blackburn said the settlement’s design changes “are a first step toward giving kids and parents the tools they need to take back control of their online lives, but they can be strengthened.”

They added, however, that they still want Congress to act. “We also need safeguards that apply across the board—to all social media companies—not just Instagram and Facebook,” Blackburn and Blumenthal said. “This settlement once again demands that Congress pass the Kids Online Safety Act into law before the end of the year.”

The Senate Commerce Committee advanced the bill on a bipartisan voice vote earlier this month. A floor vote has not yet been scheduled.

Committee Chair Ted Cruz, R-Texas, did not publicly comment as of Wednesday afternoon. 

The bill would impose a “duty of care” on platforms to protect minor users from harms, including anxiety and depression caused by compulsive use.

That provision is not part of the House bill, dubbed the Kids Internet and Digital Safety, or KIDS, Act. Instead, that bill would require platforms to put in place “reasonable” policies and procedures to prevent violence, sexual abuse, financial harm and the sale of drugs to young users.

The bill passed the House in June, 267-117, after Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and ranking member Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., negotiated a bipartisan version of it.

Neither Guthrie nor Pallone responded to a request for comment.

Terms of proposal

In the proposed settlement, Meta agreed to a slate of sweeping changes to the way teens use their platforms in the states that settled the case.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement that the settlement would “make social media less dangerous for our kids.”

“Alongside a bipartisan coalition of my colleagues, I am proud to deliver this settlement that addresses the concerns at the core of our lawsuit and institutes real change, real transparency, and real enforceable protections for children on Facebook and Instagram — right now, no more waiting,” Bonta said.

Meta would need to adopt an age assurance framework, subject to annual third-party testing, to determine whether users are under 13 and should have their accounts removed or are under 18 and should be subject to teen restrictions.

Those restrictions would, by default, include a “night mode” from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. During that time, teens could only access the settings and messages portions of Facebook and Instagram. Push notifications would not be allowed between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. Teens would also be subject to a two-hour per day use limit across Meta’s platforms in total.

The settlement also includes the use of a “school mode” to limit notifications during the school day, “productive pauses” to prompt young users if their current session or cumulative use reaches certain levels and an option to switch to a non-personalized home feed.

Supervising parents could modify settings for their teen’s account. They could also view the amount of time the teen spends on the platform and receive notifications if the teen makes repeated searches for terms related to suicide, self harm or eating disorders.

In a statement, Meta highlighted teens’ use of multiple social media platforms. The agreement conditions the payment of about $5.3 billion on actions by TikTok, Snap and Google-owned YouTube to limit teens’ usage and reach their own settlements with states, The New York Times reported.

“For meaningful progress to happen, we urge TikTok and YouTube to join us and state attorneys general in adopting this new standard, to ensure teens use social media in a healthy and responsible way,” the company wrote.

Backing for legislation

Stefan Turkheimer, vice president for public policy at the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, which has advocated for greater protections for children online, called the time limits “hugely important” and also praised the productive pause system.

He also underscored the need for “a hard floor for protecting children.”

“Legislation is the best answer,” he said, going on to add that while the settlement could make kids safer, “It’s not the same as making kids safe online.”

However, Turkheimer acknowledged that legislation has been “difficult to pass” in the past, and that with midterm elections looming, Congress is “running out of runway” in the calendar.

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, which has been critical of both the Senate and House bills while advocating for a “clear national framework for protecting kids online,” said legislation, rather than court cases, would provide “greater consistency” for families and companies.

“Meta’s settlement, amid an onslaught of lawsuits against social media platforms, highlights the consequences of leaving Congress’ job to courts, state lawmakers, and technology companies,” the think tank said in a statement. 

Haley McNamara, executive director and chief strategy officer for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, praised the settlement as a “crucial step” toward accountability for Meta.

“Attention must now turn to Congress to establish a foundation for Big Tech companies like Meta to follow when it comes to protecting children online. The Kids Online Safety Act with its strong Duty of Care would compel Meta and other tech platforms to design their products with children in mind and Congress should pass this quickly,” she said in a statement.

The settlement also comes after Meta, along with other platforms, lost liability cases in New Mexico and California earlier this year.