LANSING, Mich. (News 10) – Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, has agreed to pay up to $17 billion to settle claims that it designed its social media platforms to be addictive to children.
Michigan is one of 47 states that accused Meta of intentionally endangering the mental health of kids on its platforms. The state is set to receive $171 million of the settlement money.
As part of the settlement, Meta must implement a series of changes to how Instagram and Facebook operate for young users.
Changes Meta must make
According to the Michigan Attorney General’s office, Meta must adopt the following safety changes:
- Hard cap daily time limits and “Productive Pauses” for children: A combined two-hour daily time limit across Instagram and Facebook, with mandatory pauses after 15 minutes of continuous use and again at 60 and 90 minutes to interrupt endless scrolling. These limits remain in effect for five years. If Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube adopt comparable terms, the daily limit on each platform will drop to 60 minutes for 10 years.
- “Nighttime blocks” restricting children’s access from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.
- Limited school-time access for children, eliminating push notifications on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the school year.
- Robust age assurance measures to more effectively verify the age of young users.
- Safer, age-appropriate content controls, including stronger safeguards against bullying, content promoting eating disorders, and content related to suicide and self-harm.
- Stronger, more user-friendly parental controls.
- Limits on social comparison features, including beauty filters and visible “like” counts, that have been linked to poor mental health outcomes in kids and teens.
Experts say platforms built for engagement, not well-being
Dr. Jed Magen, chairman of the Michigan State University Department of Psychiatry, said the apps were never built with a child’s well-being in mind.
“These platforms are all set up to get eyeballs. They’ve got to have people watching them for long periods of time because then they get advertising revenue. That’s their entire business model,” Magen said.
School officials see effects firsthand
Caitlin Williams, student support coordinator at Northwest Community Schools, said the effects of social media use often show up before the first bell rings.
“Kids are trying to sleep during the school day and we check in with them… they’ll tell you they’ve been up all night on their phones,” Williams said.
“Social media to them can mean popularity, but it also can be a place where they feel excluded from others,” Williams said.
Williams said she is optimistic about the new safeguards, but said protecting kids starts with parents.
“As a parent myself, I can say it’s not easy to always take the phone away or to make those limits. But it’s so necessary for our kids,” Williams said.
More companies may need to act, doctor says
Magen said the settlement only goes so far. He said more companies will need to make changes as well, otherwise kids will move their scrolling to another platform.
Magen’s advice for parents whose children are struggling is to get them help as soon as possible, rather than wait for social media companies to improve.
Stream News 10 Lansing on your favorite devices! Here’s how to download the News 10+ app on Roku, Fire TV or Apple TV.
Be the first to see the Mid-Michigan headlines you care about – download the News 10+ app and subscribe to our News 10 newsletter and YouTube page to receive the latest local news and weather.
Copyright 2026 WILX. All rights reserved.
————————————————
