Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird talks about a multistate settlement, which included Iowa, with the social media giant Meta during a press conference at the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines on Monday.
DES MOINES — The state’s share — roughly $126 million — of a national settlement with the social media giant Meta over the harms of social media to teenagers will be used to establish payments for Iowa teens, help the state prosecute consumer protection laws, and put more law enforcement officers in schools, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird announced Monday.
During a press conference Monday at the Iowa Capitol, Bird announced her office’s establishment of what she said was the country’s first restitution fund created out of the settlement.
Iowa was among the 47 states that sued Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, over teen social media addiction. Last month, Meta agreed to pay up to $18 million and add stronger safety measures for children to its social media sites.
Iowa will receive $126 million from the settlement, which will be paid out over 10 years, Bird said Monday.
Per the settlement agreement, at least half the funds must be used to address the harms alleged in the lawsuit: namely, that the social media sites contained features designed to hook children’s attention.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird talks about a multistate settlement, which included Iowa, with the social media giant Meta during a press conference at the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026.
Bird and her office said Monday that Iowa’s share of the settlement funds will include:
$25 million paid directly to young Iowans impacted by the social media sites.
$11 million into a state fund for the enforcement of consumer protection and child safety laws.
$10 million toward grants to Iowa schools to address the harms of social media, including but not limited to covering the costs of school resource officers.
$10 million to assist victims and toward enforcement of state laws governing related to social media and online safety.
$3 million to upgrade Iowa Attorney General’s Office technology used to enforce child safety online.
$7.3 million to address harms related to social media.
Roughly $49 million will be deposited in Iowa’s general fund, Bird said. A portion of the settlement funds also will cover legal and other fees, and the state will hire an administrator to ensure the proper disbursement of the funds, Bird said.
Regarding the payments to impacted Iowa teens, Bird said her office’s initial estimates are that the payments could be roughly $100 each. She said her office will have more information in the future about how Iowa teens can file a claim to receive a restitution payment.
Bird celebrated both the financial terms and policy restrictions detailed in the settlement, the latter of which she called “groundbreaking” in an effort to make social media and the internet safer for teens and children.
“I fight to keep our kids safe, and I hold big tech accountable for what they allow on their platforms for children and teens,” Bird said at the press conference. “Under the terms of the victory (settlement), Instagram and Facebook will be safer for Iowa kids. …
“What’s happening on social media causes serious mental and physical health problems, and we are taking action.”
Bird invited to speak at the press conference representatives of the Harlan Community School District and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office. The school district employs a school resource officer in partnership with the sheriff’s department. Harlan School District High School assistant principal and athletic director Anthony Donahoo, and School Resource Officer RJ Bielenberg joined Bird in describing their belief in how resource officers can be helpful in schools.
“A lot of schools want a school resource officer and have seen the good that it does in other schools, but aren’t in a position to get that program started,” Bird said. “So my hope is that this grant funding will help schools around Iowa who want a school resource officer and law enforcement agencies that want to be able to do that to be able to work together to get a school resource officer program started, so that every school can have a great program like we just heard about today at Harlan Community Schools. We would hope that as many schools as possible would have a program like that.”
When asked whether school resource officers are trained on issues like social media addiction, cyberbullying and online harassment, Bielenberg said the National School Resource Officers Association has basic and advanced classes that cover cyber crimes and technology. He said the issues are covered “vaguely,” and that he would welcome more such training opportunities.
Bird noted her office has active, similar lawsuits against the social media site TikTok and social gaming platform Roblox.
