EAST GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Michigan will receive $171 million as part of a larger settlement with Meta over the company's role in addicting teens to social media, Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Wednesday.
The agreement introduces default time limits and safety features for users under 18 on Facebook and Instagram, giving parents additional tools to manage their children's social media use.
Michigan's settlement is part of a larger $17 billion agreement involving 47 states focused on child safety on social media platforms.
New Time Limits and Safety Features
Under the agreement, users under 18 would have a combined two-hour daily limit on Facebook and Instagram by default, with mandatory breaks after 15 minutes of continuous use and again at 60 and 90 minutes to interrupt endless scrolling. These limits will remain in effect for five years.
If Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube adopt similar terms, the daily limit on each platform would drop to 60 minutes for 10 years.
The platforms would also implement "nighttime blocks" restricting access from midnight to 6 a.m., eliminate push notifications on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the school year, and limit certain beauty filters and visible "like" counts.
Additional safety measures include stronger age verification, content controls against bullying and material promoting eating disorders or self-harm, and improved parental controls.
Meta says the agreement is designed to give parents more control over how their children use its platforms. The company is also calling on TikTok and YouTube to adopt similar protections.
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Parents Welcome Additional Support
For parents like Andrea Hendrick, who has watched her oldest daughter navigate social media through her teenage years, this could offer welcome support as she raises her 11-year-old.
"I need help. My kids need help. I can't handle the challenges of parenting, of teaching good habits, and on top of that try to pull them away from an addiction to social media," Hendrick said.
Hendrick said extended social media use affects her children's self-image.
"My girls are already struggling with enough emotions just being a teenager that they shouldn't have to struggle with the self-worth issues that come when every single picture that you look at is covered in a filter," she said.
Some Families Take Different Approach
Some parents are taking a different approach. Karin Hoekstra, an East Grand Rapids mother, keeps her three children — ages 12, 10 and 7 — off social media entirely. She's part of "Takes a Village EGR," a local effort that has gotten more than 600 kids to delay smartphones until high school and social media until age 16.
"In this country, we have a history of protecting kids from things that are harmful and products that are harmful, and so this kind of takes that a step further in regulating social media," Hoekstra said.
For Hoekstra, the Meta agreement represents progress.
"It's a start, you know, and anything that kind of acknowledges that this isn't just a problem for parents to solve on their own is incredibly validating," she said.
Monitoring and Oversight
States and an independent auditor will monitor the implementation of these protections to ensure they are working as intended.
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