National PTA breaks ties with Meta amid child-safety trials

National Parent Teacher Association is splitting Meta As the social media giant’s high-profile child safety cases emerge.

Yvonne Johnson, president of the influential education-focused nonprofit, said in a letter to members in February that the organization “will not receive renewal funding from Meta to support PTA Connected for 2026,” citing an initiative aimed at helping educate parents, children and teachers on digital safety tools and resources.

“As you can see, public scrutiny and legal cases involving companies, including Meta, regarding digital security have increased, creating new challenges for the National PTA that have proven to be both time-consuming and difficult,” Johnson wrote.

Johnson did not disclose how much funding National PTA received from Meta.

The social media giant is facing lawsuits in both California and New Mexico, accusing Meta of misleading the public about the security of apps like Instagram.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified this week in Los Angeles Superior Court at a hearing attended by a plaintiff called KGM, who claims he became addicted to apps like Instagram and YouTube because of certain design features and suffered great mental anguish as a result.

Meta is also involved in a separate, ongoing lawsuit in New Mexico in which the state attorney general alleges Meta failed to protect its apps from online attackers.

The company denied the allegations in both cases.

Meta declined to comment. CNBC has reached out to National PTA for any additional comment.

National PTA and Meta “have had a funding relationship since 2017,” Johnson wrote, and said the previous agreement expired on Dec. 31, 2025.

Sharon Winkler, founding member of the child safety advocacy coalition Parents for Safe Online SpacesParentsSOS said in a statement that Zuckerberg’s statement showed that National PTA “made the right choice to end its partnership.”

“For years, the company has intentionally made children addicted to social media products,” Winkler said. “Countless children have been harmed and families like ours destroyed as a result of Zuckerberg’s greed and relentless pursuit of market share.”

ParentsSOS said it was also calling on the National PTA to “end other Big Tech partnerships, including Discord.” Googleand TikTok” due to child safety and welfare concerns.

These tech companies and others are embroiled in numerous lawsuits across the country over similar allegations over the design and features of their respective services, which plaintiffs claim seriously harms the mental health of young users and compromises their safety.

The split comes just months after technology watchdog organization Tech Transparency Project published a report. report It details the relationship between Meta and the National PTA, which TTP describes as part of a broader effort by the social media giant to shape the public narrative on child safety regarding apps like Instagram.

““As Meta has come under increasing pressure over its impact on children and their well-being, the company has responded with a range of tactics to influence public debate,” TTP wrote at the time, CNBC reported.

The national PTA told CNBC at the time that the organization accepted the sponsorship from Meta so that the social media giant could have a “seat at the table” and be a “strong, clear voice for parents and children.”

“Our collaboration with Meta provides an opportunity to help inform families about the safety of their apps and the tools (e.g. parental controls, age-related features) and resources (e.g. parental guides, online safety centers) available,” the national PTA said at the time.

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