Digital Download: Turning the Meta Settlement into an Investment in Virginia’s Children

By Delegate Cliff Hayes

Virginia is expected to receive approximately $353 million as part of a historic multistate settlement with Meta over allegations that Facebook and Instagram used addictive features that harmed children and teenagers. Meta denies wrongdoing, but the settlement represents an important moment in our continuing conversation about children, technology and responsibility.

The question now becomes: What should Virginia do with the money?

My answer is simple: Use technology settlement dollars to address technology-related harms while preparing our children for a technology-driven future.

I believe Virginia should establish a dedicated Children and Digital Wellness Fund rather than allowing these dollars to simply disappear into the General Fund.

Part of the investment should expand behavioral-health resources for young people and support counselors, psychologists and other professionals working directly with children. We should also invest in digital literacy, helping students understand privacy, cybersecurity, algorithms, misinformation and the techniques platforms use to capture and hold their attention.

Parents need resources, too. Families should have access to education about parental controls, screen time, online safety and healthy technology habits.

But our vision should go further.

We should create opportunities for young people to unplug through sports, recreation, arts, libraries and after-school programs. At the same time, we should help them discover that technology can be more than something they consume.

We should teach them to create it.

Imagine students learning how social-media algorithms influence their behavior and then learning how to build algorithms themselves. Introduce them to artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, coding, data science and emerging technologies.

Finally, Virginia should consider preserving a portion of the settlement as a long-term endowment so this investment benefits generations of children.

The Meta settlement gives Virginia a rare opportunity.

Let’s use yesterday’s technology penalty to protect today’s children and prepare tomorrow’s technology leaders.