The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday edition that Meta has agreed to pay up to $17.1-billion (U.S.) to settle claims from over 50 U.S. attorneys-general alleging it designed Instagram and Facebook to addict children. The Globe's guest columnist Taylor Owen writes that this marks the largest settlement by a tech company. A key takeaway is that while lawsuits can make social media more governable, they cannot replace governance itself. Meta's settlement, while not an admission of wrongdoing, effectively acknowledges issues and undermines the industry's defences against regulation. The remedies included in the agreement are measures platforms previously claimed were unworkable. Despite contesting the European Commission's findings on its systems breaching the Digital Services Act, Meta will now implement these measures in the United States, highlighting that the constraints are based on motivation, not technical limitations. These suits are necessary because they reveal information that enables government to act. Cases like this do not replace governance, but they can help enable it. Litigation put important evidence on the public record and stripped away arguments for inaction. Government needs to take it from here.