FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Oct. 29, 2026
Contact: Ashwin Verghese, [email protected], 508-263-0289
Shaleen Title, [email protected]
Mass. Orgs Urge Campbell to Use Meta Settlement to Investigate Tech Companies
BOSTON — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell should use part of the Commonwealth’s over $350 million legal settlement with Meta to create a new unit in her office that can investigate and bring enforcement actions against tech companies, state-based organizations that support young people said in a letter today.
The letter to Campbell was organized by Fairplay and Parabola Center for Law and Policy and signed by Becca Schmill Foundation, Critical Internet Studies Institute, Design It For Us, Massachusetts AI Action Network, Massachusetts Teachers Association, Progressive Massachusetts, Schools Beyond Screens (Boston, Malden, Natick, and Needham chapters), Turning Life On, and Professor Lawrence Lessig in his personal capacity.
“We are writing to speak as one voice in recommending one use of settlement funds which would have an incredible impact — to allocate money to create and staff a unit within the Attorney General’s Office dedicated to investigating and bringing enforcement actions against tech companies, under the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act and other pertinent laws, for practices which continue to expose young people to harm,” the letter says.
According to the letter, the unit should be made up of qualified attorneys, experts, and consultants who can address the tech industry’s troubling business practices, including:
- Manipulative tactics designed to maximize engagement.
- Design features and business decisions that cause or exacerbate online harms like bullying, substance abuse, suicide and self harm, and eating disorders.
- The inappropriate collection and use of private information.
- The forced adoption of generative AI.
- Deceptive and manipulative practices on gaming platforms.
The new unit “would represent a tremendous step forward on behalf of Massachusetts families to create safer online environments for young people,” the letter says. “In fact, such enforcement actions would likely reverberate beyond the Commonwealth — with changes in practices which would benefit citizens of other states, and with your actions serving as a model for other attorneys general.”
The letter follows a multistate coalition’s landmark $17 billion settlement with Meta in August over child safety concerns on its platforms. After a bipartisan, nationwide investigation, Campbell filed a lawsuit in 2023 against Meta and Instagram, alleging that the company violated the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act and caused a public nuisance by purposefully designing Instagram to addict young users, knowing that its practices could harm young people.
As part of the August settlement, Campbell reportedly secured at least $366 million from Meta to be allocated toward projects to remediate harms to children and teens in Massachusetts caused by social media.
The letter signers praise the Attorney General for her leadership and for reaching out to them for their input on the settlement funds.
“We hope the Meta settlement represents a moment which will turn the tide for families to assert control and to create an internet that serves young people rather than exploiting them for commercial gain,” the letter says. “By the creation of a dedicated enforcement unit, among the other worthy projects you decide to fund, you can supercharge this change.”
Fairplay Campaign Director David Monahan said: “Attorney General Campbell is an amazing champion for the children of our state, and we are excited to work with her on an innovative approach to protecting kids from Big Tech. By creating this new unit, AG Campbell can inspire other states to follow Massachusetts’s example in using settlement funds to investigate tech companies. The time is ripe to hold Big Tech accountable for harming our kids, and we look forward to seeing the Commonwealth take the lead.”
Parabola Center Director Shaleen Title said: “Everyone agrees that when tech companies hurt young people, they should be held accountable. Attorney General Campbell can lead by example on this, as she often does.”
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About Fairplay
Fairplay is the leading nonprofit committed to helping children thrive in an increasingly commercialized, screen-obsessed culture, and the only organization dedicated to ending marketing to children. Fairplay works to enhance children’s well-being by eliminating the exploitative and harmful business practices of marketers and Big Tech. Learn more at www.fairplayforkids.org.