Today at Liberty Plaza, Rick Jackson, the Republican nominee for Governor of Georgia, was joined by Attorney General Chris Carr to unveil his plan to end human trafficking and protect Georgia's most vulnerable children.
What kind of plan is Rick Jackson proposing? The centerpiece of the plan to protect Georgia’s children is a commitment to codify the child-safety protections AG Carr secured as part of last week's landmark Meta settlement and apply them to social media platforms operating in Georgia.
Announced on August 26, the settlement is the largest Big Tech settlement in American history and delivered $135 million in reparations to Georgia.
What did Meta agree to in its settlement? Meta agreed to robust age assurance, stronger parental controls, daily time limits with mandatory breaks, nighttime blocks, an end to school-day notifications, protections against bullying and harmful content, and limits on social-comparison features.
What Rick Jackson had to say:
- “Traffickers are not targeting our children in dark alleys. They are targeting them online. Attorney General Carr just forced the largest social media company on earth to change how it treats kids. As governor, I will make that the price of doing business in Georgia for every platform. Parents should be in charge of their children, not algorithms, predators, or Silicon Valley executives.”
- “I know what it feels like to be a child with no control over where you will sleep, who will care for you, or whether the adult in front of you can be trusted. Protecting the least of these is not a campaign slogan to me. It is my life.”
What else does the plan include? Jackson also committed to working with the Attorney General and the General Assembly to direct Georgia's share of the settlement largely toward preventing and prosecuting trafficking, locating missing children, strengthening enforcement, and helping survivors rebuild their lives.
He credited First Lady Marty Kemp and the GRACE Commission, along with AG Carr's statewide Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, with the progress Georgia has already made, and said his plan builds on that foundation.
