LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Parents and experts in Southern Nevada are weighing in after a judge decided tech giant Meta will pay 47 states, including Nevada, a portion of a $17 billion settlement.
Nevada’s Attorney General Aaron Ford spoke Wednesday morning in support of the news.
“After an extensive investigation into Meta's deceptive trade practices, these practices resulted in widespread harm to our state's children, including exposure to predators, addiction, attention span reduction, self-harm, eating disorders, impacts to body image satisfaction, and depression," Ford said.
Mary Kielar shares the reaction from a local parent and a mental health professional:
As a result of the settlement, Nevada will get a guaranteed payout of more than $17 million and up to $254 million over the decade. That money is expected to go toward safety measures to better-protect young users.
Meta will also have to implement time limits and pauses for kids using Instagram and Facebook, and will stop push notifications during the school day. The company will also look to keep content age appropriate.
“I really hope it goes to good use,” Las Vegas parent Geoffrey Radcliffe said. “I guess it’s still early on in the settlement phase, so we don’t really know what those programs are going to look like and how they’re going to be delivered. Hopefully, they’re moving into programs that’ll help these kids identify their own self-worth rather than receiving it from a like or share.”
Dr. Timothy Jeider is a provider at Nevada Mental Health and regularly sees patients who deal with struggles that might stem from social media use.
“If you aren’t able to love yourself without someone else reinforcing it, you’re going to have a really tough time in life. So, putting in these gaps is going to bring people back to learning how to do that without social media buttons,” he said.
