In August, Utah announced its share of a $12.2 billion national settlement with Meta over child safety practices: roughly $212 million over the next decade.
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The agreement, still subject to court approval, resolves a case Utah’s Division of Consumer Protection filed in October 2023, alleging Meta knowingly exposed young users to serious mental health harms. It’s one of the largest consumer protection settlements in U.S. history, rivaled only by the 1990s tobacco settlements.
Utah’s leaders — the governor, the legislature, the attorney general’s office and the Division of Consumer Protection — deserve real credit here. This case took years of persistence, and it sends a clear message that Utah will hold powerful companies accountable when they put profit ahead of families. That fight is essentially won. The question now is whether Utah can lead the nation by getting the money part right the first time.
History offers a cautionary tale. After the 1990s tobacco settlements, much of that money never reached the public health programs it was meant to fund — states used it to plug budget gaps instead. A similar pattern is emerging nationally with opioid settlement funds, where watchdog groups have flagged unclear reporting and inconsistent tracking, and Utah, set to receive $543 million with about half going to counties, is still working out how to ensure full local transparency.
That’s reason enough for Utah to put strong guardrails in place now, before a single dollar of the Meta settlement moves, so funds are directed to those most impacted by Meta’s practices: children and youth.
How the Meta settlement money can help Utah’s kids
The need is real and well-documented. Utah’s own 2025 Student Health and Risk Prevention survey found that nearly 80% of Utah youth spend two or more hours a day on electronic devices, a habit tied to poor sleep, loneliness, substance use and mental health struggles. in grades 8, 10 and 12 check their electronic devices every 15 minutes outside of school and sleep time, while kids who spend five or more hours daily online are nearly twice as likely to experience cyberbullying.
Parents across the political spectrum worry about these statistics, and most agree that the best solutions start with families, faith communities, local nonprofits and neighborhood organizations.
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That’s what makes this moment promising. After-school programs, community-based mental health services and youth development initiatives offer kids consistent relationships with caring adults, hands-on exploration in sports, arts, STEM, service and real opportunities to build confidence away from a screen. Utah parents already see the value — and encourage connection and educational achievement.
The problem is access. Five in six Utah children who want to participate in after- or out-of-school programming are missing out, held back by cost, transportation and limited availability. The very programs best positioned to offer kids a healthy offline alternative remain out of reach for the families who need them most.
Utah is unusually well positioned to solve this. The Legislature already passed SB165, the Economic Mobility Initiative, establishing the REACH (Raising Expectations through Accountability, Community, and Hope) Initiative — a statewide framework that coordinates community-based services, tracks outcomes and directs resources to families who need them most.
That accountability infrastructure didn’t exist during the tobacco settlements. It exists now, thanks to the legislature — giving state leaders a ready-made, fiscally responsible vehicle to ensure each dollar of this $212 million settlement produces measurable results instead of disappearing into general budgets.
With the settlement secured pending court approval, there’s no reason to wait. We are ready to work alongside the legislature, the governor’s office, local leaders and impacted communities to build transparent allocation guidelines and outcome tracking from day one to account for every dollar and bring results to Utah families.
We ask Utah’s legislators to join us in making sure this money goes to the young people this case was about protecting. Utah has already held one of the most powerful companies in the world accountable. Now we have the chance to turn that victory into safe, accessible, community-rooted spaces where Utah kids can thrive offline.
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