{"slug": "meta-and-tiktok-settle-child-safety-lawsuits", "title": "Meta and TikTok settle child safety lawsuits", "summary": "Meta and TikTok have settled separate child safety lawsuits, with Meta agreeing to a $17 billion settlement and product changes in response to a lawsuit brought by 47 U.S. states, and TikTok agreeing to pay $400 million over a federal government lawsuit alleging violations of child safety and privacy laws. The settlements highlight ongoing concerns about social media's impact on young users, as a 2025 Pew Research Center survey found that 61% of U.S. teens use TikTok daily and 55% use Instagram daily, with 48% of teens saying social media has a mostly negative effect on people their age.", "body_md": "## The Briefing\n\n**☀️ Happy Thursday!** *The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. *\n\n**Sign up here!**\n\n**In today’s email:**\n\n**Featured story:** Meta, TikTok settle child safety lawsuits**In other news:** Tensions rise between Mexican government and journalists**Looking ahead:** AI literacy lessons are working their way into schools**Chart of the week:** Who should be most responsible for ensuring Americans know how to check the accuracy of news?\n\n### 🔥 **Featured story**\n\nRecent settlements involving **Meta **and **TikTok **have put renewed attention on claims that **social media companies **do not adequately protect **young users. **Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, agreed to a [$17 billion settlement](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/26/technology/meta-settlement-social-media-addiction-lawsuit.html?unlocked_article_code=1.8VA.kXHt.Hj0ytF9e77nn&smid=nytcore-ios-share) as well as changes to its products in response to a lawsuit brought by 47 U.S. states. The lawsuit argued Meta knowingly contributed to social media addiction and harmed children. Meanwhile, in a separate case, [TikTok agreed to pay $400 million](https://www.axios.com/2026/08/21/doj-tiktok-biden-lawsuit-settlement) over a federal government lawsuit alleging violations of child safety and privacy laws.\n\nThe platforms at the center of these debates are widely used by U.S. teens: More than half of those ages 13 to 17 use TikTok (61%) and Instagram (55%) daily, according to [a 2025 Pew Research Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/12/09/teens-social-media-and-ai-chatbots-2025/#frequency-of-online-platform-use). This includes **21% who said they use TikTok “almost constantly” **and 12% who reported the same about Instagram.** **\n\nIn a [2024 Center survey of teens](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/04/22/teens-social-media-and-mental-health/#teens-views-of-and-experiences-on-social-media), **48% said social media has a mostly negative effect on people their age,** up from 32% in 2022. And **45% said they spend too much time on social media. **At the same time, many teens also see benefits from using these platforms. For example, 74% said social media helps them feel more connected to friends.\n\n### 📌 **In other news**\n\n[Tensions rise](https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2026-08-21/did-mexico-create-blacklist-of-journalists-politicians-president-says-no)between**Mexican government** and**journalists**- Arbitrator orders\n**The Washington Post** to[rehire columnist](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/24/business/washington-post-karen-attiah.html)**Karen Attiah,** who was fired over**Charlie Kirk** comments **Pentagon**[fires leadership](https://apnews.com/article/stars-stripes-pentagon-censorship-media-d42affb0c17fef31c6089645c8dbbe70)of**Stars and Stripes**- Former Alabama basketball player\n[awarded $9.25 million](https://patch.com/alabama/tuscaloosa/jury-sides-kai-spears-nyt-defamation-trial-awards-9-25m-damages)in**rare defamation verdict against The New York Times** **California governor**[signs bill](https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article316993033.html)to protect privacy of immigration support workers, which Republicans call the**“Stop Nick Shirley Act”****Journalist Catherine Herridge**[turns to Supreme Court](https://www.theguardian.com/media/ng-interactive/2026/aug/25/catherine-herridge-journalist-supreme-court)to avoid daily fine for refusing to disclose her sources- A look at the\n[former investigative journalist](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/08/22/how-john-solomon-became-trumps-white-house-secret-hunter/)now working for the**White House** **The New York Times**[begins testing](https://www.semafor.com/article/08/23/2026/new-york-times-tests-out-ai-generated-search-summaries)** AI search tool**highlighting its reporting\n\n### 📅 **Looking ahead**\n\nThirty-seven states have published official [guidance for artificial intelligence in schools](https://apnews.com/article/ai-literacy-schools-education-4fb9f2c0240993499870f4f204bf41c1) as AI tools continue to evolve. And some **schools have started incorporating** **AI literacy into their curriculums** in hopes of teaching students how to use the technology safely and effectively.\n\nAs of [last fall](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/12/09/teens-social-media-and-ai-chatbots-2025/), **a** **majority of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 (64%) said they were using AI chatbots, **including more than half who had used chatbots to search for information** **(57%) or get help with schoolwork (54%).\n\nAbout a quarter of all teens (26%) said they were extremely or very [confident in their ability to use AI chatbots](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2026/02/24/how-teens-use-and-view-ai/#ai-literacy-confidence-and-awareness), while 31% were somewhat confident and 7% were not too or not at all confident. An additional 36% said they had not used chatbots.\n\n### 📊 **Chart of the week**\n\nAs Americans navigate an increasingly complex information environment, whose job it is to make sure people know what information they can trust and how to check whether news is accurate? This week*’*s chart looks at this question, which we asked in a [December 2025 survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2026/02/11/who-should-make-sure-people-know-how-to-verify-news-according-to-americans/):\n\n**44% of Americans say individuals themselves** should be most responsible – by far the largest share.**22% say news organizations** should carry this responsibility.- Smaller shares put the responsibility on others, such as\n**schools** or**the government.**\n\n**most** responsible for making sure Americans know how to check if news is accurate\n\n“Americans’ Complicated Relationship With News”\n\n**most** responsible for making sure Americans know how to check if news is accurate\n\n| All U.S. adults | Rep/Lean Rep | Dem/Lean Dem | |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| Individuals themselves | 44% | 52% | 37% |\n| News organizations | 22% | 20% | 24% |\n| Teachers or schools | 9% | 4% | 14% |\n| The government | 9% | 7% | 9% |\n| Parents or family members | 5% | 6% | 4% |\n| Tech or social media companies | 4% | 4% | 5% |\n| None of the above | 5% | 5% | 5% |\n\n“Americans’ Complicated Relationship With News”\n\n*👋 That’s all for this week.*\n\nThe Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Christopher St. Aubin, Emily Tomasik, Joanne Haner and Sawyer Reed. It is edited by Michael Lipka and copy edited by Mia Hennen.\n\n*Do you like this newsletter? Email us at journalism@pewresearch.org or fill out this two-question survey to tell us what you think*.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/meta-and-tiktok-settle-child-safety-lawsuits", "canonical_source": "https://www.pewresearch.org/newsletter/the-briefing/meta-and-tiktok-settle-child-safety-lawsuits/", "published_at": "2026-08-27 20:37:04+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-27 20:49:35.143833+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy"], "entities": ["Meta", "TikTok", "Pew Research Center", "Instagram", "Facebook"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/meta-and-tiktok-settle-child-safety-lawsuits", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/meta-and-tiktok-settle-child-safety-lawsuits.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/meta-and-tiktok-settle-child-safety-lawsuits.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/meta-and-tiktok-settle-child-safety-lawsuits.jsonld"}}