This year, we’ve witnessed a tidal wave of positive movement to protect children online with the avalanche of Big Tech legal cases, and Meta is facing some of the most significant consequences. Now Congress has the opportunity to turn that momentum into lasting, industrywide standards.

Meta’s $17 billion settlement with more than 47 state attorneys general is the biggest Big Tech settlement in history. In the context of Meta’s $60.46 plus billion-dollar net income in 2025, the whopping multibillion-dollar settlement is only about 8% of its annual bottom line. I have emphasized for years that if Big Tech companies prioritize the safety of children, it will have a positive effect on their bottom line and their overall market value. Using Meta’s recent financial information, its share count was roughly 2.52 billion, and its market capitalization on Aug. 25 was approximately $1.44 trillion, rising to approximately $1.57 trillion market cap on Sept. 3, just one week after the Aug. 26 settlement was announced. This equates to an increase of about $130 billion.