Social media and kids' mental health

QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I believe these platforms understood what they were doing was damaging to children, so while it’s a win, it’s unfortunate that we had to reach a settlement to get this taken care of when this wasn’t addressed previously.”

– Rep. Lindee Brill (R-Sheboygan Falls), reacting to the legal settlement announced this week between 47 states and Meta to address mental health harms to children from social media.

Wisconsin lawmakers say a national settlement with Facebook and Instagram owner Meta that will impose new guardrails around children’s use of social media is a start, but much more can be done to protect kids. Baylor Spears interviews two state lawmakers who have focused on children’s mental health about the settlement, which could bring Wisconsin between $219 million and $313 million.

Flock Safety, the multi-billion dollar producer of Flock automatic license plate reader cameras, spent $102,000 last year lobbying in Wisconsin for legislation to increase its nationwide surveillance network, a new report states. Meanwhile, communities across the state continue pushing back against Flock cameras. Isiah Holmes has the latest on the ongoing controversy.

In President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, he has employed a governmentwide approach to fulfilling his immigration agenda that includes not only the central campaign promise of mass deportations, but curtailing what few federal benefits some immigrants had. Ariana Figueroa in our Washington bureau looks at how the administration has extended to agencies throughout the federal government responsibility for imposing new limits on immigrants.

A federal judge froze for two weeks a Trump administration regulation to restrict mail voting late Thursday, calling the U.S. Postal Service rule a violation of states’ power to administer elections. Jacob Fischler from our Washington bureau team reports.

Earlier: Postal Service pushes ahead on Trump order limiting vote-by-mail

PLUS:

Wisconsin tax collections 2% higher than expected, putting budget surplus at nearly $3 billion

Abortion initiative group sues Idaho state officials over ‘misleading’ ballot language

More from Washington:

Canadian tariffs to further raise prices, a top concern for voters

Trump administration plans $100,000 visa fee for high-skill foreign workers