Nine Recommendations for Effective Oversight of the Multistate Agreement to Protect Young Users on Facebook and Instagram
The landmark multistate Meta settlement creates new binding requirements intended to protect young people using Facebook and Instagram. But reaching an agreement is only one step. In the coming months, attorneys general and Meta will make consequential decisions that will shape how the settlement works in practice, including selecting an independent auditor and establishing the workplan that will guide its evaluation of Meta’s implementation.
KGI’s brief “After the Settlement: Ensuring Meta’s Protections Work” explains the concrete steps needed to realize the settlement’s benefits for youth. Drawing on lessons from independent research and past legal remedies, the brief sets out nine recommendations for an effective independent audit and oversight, including how the auditor should be selected, what it should measure, what data it should be able to access, and what information should be made available to the public.
These choices will help determine whether oversight can answer the question at the heart of the settlement: Do Meta’s safety features actually reduce the risks to youth they are intended to address? Evidence from litigation and independent assessments shows that deploying a safety feature does not necessarily mean young people use it or benefit from its intended protections. Effective oversight must therefore go beyond verifying that Meta appears to have implemented required changes and assess whether those changes actually work in practice.
KGI’s recommendations call for an independent auditor with relevant expertise and genuine independence; authority to measure outcomes, not box-checking; sufficient access to Meta’s data and infrastructure; evaluation of the full scope of the settlement; and meaningful public transparency. Independent research and user surveys can provide additional evidence about the settlement’s effects, while sustained attorney general oversight will be important when disputes over compliance arise.
The settlement is significant, but many of the decisions that will determine its effectiveness have yet to be made. Getting those decisions right can help ensure that oversight focuses not simply on whether Meta appears to comply with the agreement, but on whether the requirements work in practice. Ultimately, the settlement’s success should be measured by whether the requirements measurably reduce risks to young people.
