Meta is paying up after it settled a lawsuit with Mississippi and other states over accusations it fostered harmful teen addiction to social media. The company will pay $188,977,259 over ten years to Mississippi as part of the settlement agreement. Attorney General Lynn Fitch disclosed how the funds will be allocated in a consent judgment filed this week in Hinds County Chancery Court.
The consent decree states how the funds will be divvied up by the Attorney General:
* $6.9 million per year will go to the Mississippi Department of Mental Health for mental health programs targeting teens.
* $6 million per year will be allocated to the Mississippi Department of Wilfdlife, Fisheries, and Parks for "playgrounds, parks, sporting courts or fields, or other outdoor recreational activities." Translation: The good ole boys in the legislature can cut MDWFP's budget by $6 million per year.
* $6 million is distributed to the Mississippi Department of Education for afterschool and school break programs.
The legislature can determine how the funds are appropriated within the parameters established in the consent decree.
The settlement amount could increase to $270 million if other social media companies join in the settlement. Meta's now defunct Cambridge Analytics will pay $6 million for harvesting data of children.
The case is assigned to Hinds County Chancellor Tametrice Hodges-Linzey.

34 comments:
Still waiting on my check from China, Lynn.
Cha-ching. The pols are salivating over pet projects.
She is a brilliant trial lawyer-
The state will just piss it alway
I don't care if you do or don't like Lynn Fitch, she gets points for this. If we saw other states getting in on the settlement but not Mississippi, she'd be catching heat. Well she was on the ball for this.
none of that will ever happen, politicians will steal every nickel of that money.
Sources? Casinos, lottery, Katrina......on and on
every nickel mark my words
Mississippi was one of the few states to settle and “take the money”. Several states did not settle. Meta lawyers wrote the settlement. Does not sound like “Mitchell Mcdeere or “Jake Verganse” worthy performance. Golf clap only
Has anyone thought about putting it in a trust that no one can touch to build up money to pay for things? Lets see $118,000,000 at 5% is only $5,900,000 a year once the whole balance is there. Oh wait, the tobacco money remember, lets piss it away as quick as we can.
Lets see $119,000,000 at 5% is 5.9 million a year in interest. Why not put it in a trust and use the annual interest for parks and recreation? We can let it build up and have an annual fund to improve things. If it's in a tobacco trust no one can touch it, oh wait, I forgot that money couldn't be touched either.
Why share this money with people not directly affected? This money should go to those directly affected by these actions. Is there any chance this money might be seen as “buying votes”?
Funny how the people that represent us seem to get the money we deserve
Legislature should be making the decision where to spend all of the money. She's hiding behind the consent decree but will then take credit on the stump for the direction of the divvy.
How is this any different than Moore and the smoking dollars?
On the ball for this? Please.
Plaintiff's attorneys are practically falling over themselves to walk into the Sillers Building (or a 30A condo) to sign lucrative contingency fee contracts wherein they get a measly 10% of the money owed to Mississippians and Americans.
The AG does hardly more than take a meeting (and a campaign donation), watch a slide deck, and wait. A tale as old as Jim Hoods tenure.
"none of that will ever happen, politicians will steal every nickel of that money."
I can't say I disagree, and there's actually a bit of a sticky wicket if/when they do. If THAT money is not spent on things reasonably associated with anything FB/Meta could have possibly caused, it will provide an interesting argument that such settlements and payments were obtained by fraud. Now, what they could do is as is noted by a comment above and allocate THAT money to where Fitch claims it will go, reduce the budgets by that amount, and then grift off the "saved" money in other ways. However, pols being pols, they'd likely F it up and still get it jammed up the taxpayer's asses.
More money than Shad's brought in his whole time as Auditor!
how much for the attorneys?
These settlement should never be in control a single official, the legislature should authorize ALL the expenditures related to ANY received revenue, including contingency fee rates.
I hope the money is not spent before it is received (years away). Maybe plug some of the gap on PERS?
The settlement really is pocket change for Meta, their gross revenue for 2025 was about $200b.
other states did all the heavy lifting in this settlement. fitch just hung around and jumped in at the last minute. her office doesn't have the brains to do this kind of work.
Since when does the AG appropriate the State’s money? Thought the legislature did that
With all this money and federal money and sales tax money the state needs to reduce sales tax rates. Price increases are causing state sales tax revenue to increase. The state needs to cap its on revenue growth. I hear the legislature is looking at property tax caps. I need my sales tax cap more than property taxes. Grocery bill is 10 times more than car tag!
Yall won’t see a dime.
Yall gon make shad blow a gasket ha
So is Biden.
This Jackson Jambalaya has some of the most negative posters in the State of Mississippi. Can't see any good in anything.
@3:22 and you do?
Please listen to me. $18,000,000/year is about .0.2% of MS's budget/year
Mississippi's fiscal year 2025 general fund spending was approximately $7.0 billion, with total state expenditures reaching roughly $23.7 billion to $32.0 billion when including federal funds and other sources
IBetter than nothing? THis is a fool's paradise particularly when you list what the stae will do with the unaccountable monies.
fitch and her cronies shoot clipped wing quail on a shooting preserve and call it hunting.
that should tell you everything you need to know about her and that office.
That may be true, but they're mostly right.
Woo hoo, conferences in Paris.
I agree that sales tax
Is hitting me harder than property tax. I'm 65 and pay a small amount of property tax. And I have an order car. But these prices at the grocery and 5 percent sales tax on top is a big hit to my budget. Doesn't the state get all or most of the sales taxes? Why are they focused on property taxes?
Woooo hoooo! She has a slush fund to spend at her discretion. How many does she need? They NEVER reach the harmed party but it gives her incredible power for her resume. What a joke!
It's amazing the number of criminals she's recently locked up, lawsuits she's suddenly involved in and just yesterday her commercial says SHE outlawed abortion, nationwide. This women has gone full-zone bat-shit.
Seeing Lynn in her police vest at the press conference last week was odd. Then I see her knew campaign ad featuring that shot of her in the best to look tough on crime…. It’s all about building the allusion she does anything….
More free pork to serve up to family and friends. So gross. So very gross.
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