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Special Client Update - August 2026

Attorney Client Privileged Communication - This email contains confidential legal advice and litigation strategy intended only for school district clients. Please do not share it with the public or non-client districts or discuss it during an open board meeting. Any board discussion should occur only in a properly convened executive session.

Dear Superintendent and Board Members,

On the heels of our recent quarterly newsletter, a major development occurred that warrants another update concerning a proposed settlement between Meta and a large group of state attorneys general, that we were anticipating but could not confirm or disclose. The State AGs have accomplished what Congress could not, and that was to secure a settlement that will require important changes to the way Meta operates with kids and includes a large financial penalty.

The financial payment could exceed $17 billion, but the required changes to the platforms are more important to schools and families. The settlement will limit teenage use, reduce access and notifications during school and nighttime hours, strengthen parental controls, improve age-verification systems, and provide additional protections against excessive use and harmful content.

The detailed settlement terms became public after we sent our recent quarterly update.  The state attorneys general brought and negotiated their cases separately from the school district litigation. Importantly, this settlement does not end your district’s case.

In Court this week after the MDL AGs announced the State AG settlement, the MDL Judge raised the issue of school district settlement; Meta’s lawyer responded, “We are working on it, but no representations.” We can confirm that there are settlement discussions regarding schools, but we cannot share any further until or unless there is a formal proposal to announce.

Further information

Proposed Changes to Facebook and Instagram

The proposed settlement would require Meta to make several significant changes for teenage users of Facebook and Instagram.

• Daily time limits. Teen accounts would initially be limited by default to two hours of use per day across Meta’s platforms. The limits would later become more restrictive, with a default limit of 60 minutes on each platform and no more than two hours total across Meta platforms. A parent would have to approve a less restrictive limit.

• Nighttime restrictions. Teenagers would initially be blocked from most Facebook and Instagram features between midnight and 6:00 a.m. The nighttime block would later expand to 10:00 p.m. through 7:00 a.m. Push notifications would also be disabled during designated nighttime hours unless a parent changes the setting.

• School-hour protections. Meta would be required to disable most push notifications during school hours. Parents could also establish school hours and restrict access to most platform functions during those times.

• Breaks from continuous use. Meta would have to interrupt extended use with increasingly prominent notices and pauses. Teenagers would receive notices after continuous 15-minute sessions and additional pauses after reaching 60 and 90 minutes of daily use.

• Greater parental oversight. Parents participating in Meta’s supervision program would receive more information about how much time their child spends on Facebook and Instagram, including time spent messaging and viewing longer videos. Parents would also receive information about certain social connections and adults communicating directly with their child. Parents could receive notices when a teenager repeatedly searches for terms associated with suicide, self-harm, or eating disorders. Meta would also notify participating parents when a teenager creates or links another Meta account.

• Age verification. Meta would be required to implement stronger systems for identifying whether users are teenagers or children under 13. An independent third party would test these systems annually for accuracy, privacy, security, reliability, and resistance to attempts to evade age restrictions.

• Safer content settings. Teen accounts would receive stronger default protections against age-inappropriate content, bullying, harassment, and repeated exposure to sensitive material. Parents could impose more restrictive settings.

• Less reliance on personalized feeds. Teenagers would be offered an option to use a non-personalized feed rather than a feed selected by Meta’s recommendation systems. Meta would be required to remind teenagers periodically that this option is available.

• Reduced social-comparison features. Meta would disable visible like and reaction counts by default for teenage users. It would also prevent teenagers from using filters associated with cosmetic procedures.

Why These Changes Matter to Schools

These provisions directly address problems reported by school districts, including classroom distraction, nighttime use that may interfere with sleep, excessive and compulsive use, exposure to harmful content, and the difficulty parents face when attempting to supervise multiple accounts.

The settlement is especially important because Meta would be agreeing to change the design and operation of its platforms rather than merely paying money to resolve past claims. This supports the central position of the state attorneys general and school district cases: platforms can be redesigned to provide stronger protections for children.

If these changes ultimately apply to Texas users, they could meaningfully assist schools and families. School-hour notification limits, daily time restrictions, and parent-controlled access settings may help reduce classroom distractions and excessive use.

Financial Payments

The proposed settlement does not resolve the school district cases. It involves claims brought by state attorneys general, not the separate claims brought by school districts.

The settlement also does not give school districts a right to enforce its terms or receive a direct payment. The districts’ claims for their own costs and damages remain separate.

Meta does not admit liability or wrongdoing. The agreement is a negotiated settlement.

The bottom line is that this is a very positive development. The proposed settlement recognizes that meaningful protection for young users requires changes to the platforms themselves, including limits during school and nighttime hours, stronger parental tools, and safeguards against excessive use and harmful content.

At the same time, the proposal does not settle the districts’ cases. We march onward towards that goal.

We will continue preparing your district’s case, developing settlement opportunities, and working toward fair compensation and platform changes that help protect students. Please contact us with any questions.

Sincerely,