Mike Moore, a key figure in the historic $246 billion tobacco settlement reached in 1998, believes lessons from the legal battle against Big Tobacco could now be applied to Meta and other major social media companies.

As Mississippi attorney general, Moore helped lead the campaign against tobacco companies that eventually resulted in one of the largest legal settlements in US history. Although he has since retired from public office, he is now using that experience to advise state attorneys general considering a potentially sweeping settlement with the social media industry.

Social media companies including Meta, TikTok and Google-owned YouTube have faced allegations that their platforms knowingly encourage addictive behaviour and contribute to harm among children and teenagers.

Meta recently agreed to pay almost $17 billion in a landmark settlement with a coalition of state attorneys general. The states had accused the company of misrepresenting the extent of mental health harms to children associated with Facebook and Instagram.

The agreement represents the largest settlement so far in the growing wave of litigation involving social media platforms. However, legal experts say the wider battle is far from finished, with numerous cases against technology and social media companies still unresolved.

Moore sees similarities between the current legal pressure facing social media companies and the campaign against the tobacco industry decades ago. Both involve allegations that major corporations understood potential risks associated with their products while failing to adequately protect younger users or consumers.

Whether the strategy that helped secure the historic tobacco settlement can produce a similarly broad agreement with the social media industry remains uncertain, but Meta’s multibillion-dollar settlement could represent an important turning point in the legal fight.