Their conversation comes at a consequential moment: social media companies are reaching major settlements, school districts are seeking recovery for student mental health costs, and families are pursuing claims over online grooming and exploitation.
Haugen's story is also the subject of The Social Reckoning, directed by Aaron Sorkin, which opened in theaters nationwide on October 9. The film stars Mikey Madison as Haugen, Jeremy Allen White as Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz, and Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg. It serves as a companion to The Social Network that follows the effort to bring Facebook's closely guarded internal information into public view.
One example Haugen raised in the interview captures why that internal information still matters:
"They've released thousands of pages of their own research showing really simple fixes—like turning off notifications during school hours. Kids used Instagram a tiny bit less, and they said they could focus better. They chose not to do it, because they were focused on profit over well-being."
"That one example says everything," said Missy Sims, Senior Counsel at Milberg. "A simple, low-cost fix, tested, proven to help kids focus, and it didn't go live because it would have cost them engagement. Our school district clients are the ones left absorbing the cost of that decision, in counseling budgets and classroom disruption."
What Haugen Disclosed
Haugen testified before a Senate subcommittee on October 5, 2021, describing how Facebook, in her account, repeatedly prioritized profits over safety. She challenged the company's public explanations of its products and argued that safer social media was possible.
"What I'm known for is bringing out twenty-two thousand pages of internal Facebook documents,” said Haugen, speaking to the Milberg team. “Research showing they knew they had problems, and they knew they had solutions. Real solutions, around how they designed the products, not around picking and choosing content. Because censorship doesn't actually work."
"This is exactly why internal documents matter so much in these cases," said Vicki Maniatis, Senior Partner at Milberg. "Frances didn't just allege a problem; she showed the company's own research proving they knew, and knew what would fix it. That's the kind of evidence that moves a case forward."
Why It Matters to the Litigation
Haugen's testimony is central to the questions underlying the Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 3047: What did companies know about risks to children? How did their design choices affect young users? What safeguards were available, and how did companies respond to warnings?
The litigation was centralized in the Northern District of California over allegations that social media products encouraged addictive use and caused injuries to young people. Haugen's account is particularly relevant to investigating Facebook and Instagram's knowledge and choices. Her congressional testimony doesn't, by itself, establish liability, but it helps explain why internal documents, employee testimony, and product-design evidence matter so much in these cases.
"Four in five kids are fine, according to their own numbers. So one in five kids is not fine,” said Haugen. “It doesn't take even twenty percent of kids not being okay for that to be a crisis in your kid's school."
The Financial Consequences Are Already Substantial
In Kentucky, the Breathitt County school district reached settlements totaling approximately $27 million with Meta, Snap, TikTok, and YouTube: $9 million from Meta, $8 million each from Snap and TikTok, and approximately $2 million from YouTube. The agreements resolved a school district bellwether case before trial, showing that institutional claims can produce significant recoveries without a jury verdict.
Separately, on August 26, 2026, a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general announced a proposed settlement under which Meta would pay at least $12.1 billion and potentially up to $17.1 billion, contingent on similar settlements by other major platforms. The agreement, subject to court approval, also includes protections for minors: default daily time limits, overnight restrictions, limits on school-hour notifications, stronger age checks, parental controls, and independent oversight.
Milberg's Work
Milberg represents Peoria Public Schools District 150 and other school districts in the social media addiction litigation involving platforms, including Instagram and Snapchat. Districts seek recovery for documented costs such as counseling, monitoring, and the administrative burden of responding to the alleged effects on students.
“What stands out to me about Frances’s story is just how long it’s taken for the consequences to catch up,” said Marc Grossman, Senior Partner at Milberg. “Families, school districts, and individual kids don’t have the resources to take on a trillion-dollar company alone. That’s the role litigation plays, and it’s the same role we’ve played for fifty years, across industries, whenever the people harmed need someone willing to stay in the fight.”
Milberg also represents survivors in litigation alleging that Roblox enabled predators to groom and exploit children. The firm has publicly reported representing more than 400 victims of alleged exploitation involving Roblox and Discord. The complaints challenge alleged failures to implement reasonable protections, including identity verification, age controls, moderation, and parental safeguards. The firm's child-protection work also includes an initiative with Helping Survivors to pursue Snapchat claims involving alleged grooming, sexual exploitation, and extortion of minors.
"I have a lot of hope,” said Haugen. “We can build different, safer forms of social media. We are going to hold them accountable, and we are going to get there."
"That's the work in front of us right now," said Maniatis, " turning Frances's testimony five years ago into the reality that courts and settlements are finally delivering. This conversation felt like the right way to mark that moment."
