Maine is poised to receive at least $56 million from a sweeping multistate settlement with Meta that will also dramatically change how children in the state can use Facebook and Instagram.
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey announced Wednesday that Maine had joined the landmark settlement with Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, resolving allegations that the social media giant deliberately designed its platforms with addictive features that harmed children while misleading the public about the risks.
The settlement, which Frey’s office valued at up to $17.1 billion, is the largest state consumer-protection settlement outside of the Big Tobacco agreements of the 1990s. Meta has denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.
For Maine, however, the agreement is about considerably more than its share of the money.
Under the settlement, Maine will receive no less than $56 million, while children and parents across the state will see substantial changes to how Meta’s platforms operate.
“This hard-fought settlement provides important protections for children on Meta’s platforms, Instagram and Facebook, and empowers parents with tools to help address the negative impacts of social media use on children,” Frey said Wednesday.
“Notably, Meta is agreeing to measures designed to ensure that children under 13 are not on its platforms,” he added.
The settlement follows years of investigations and litigation over the impact social media platforms have had on children.
Beginning in 2021, attorneys general across the country investigated allegations that social media companies knowingly designed and promoted products to children and teenagers despite evidence of potential harm.
According to Frey’s office, the investigation found that Meta designed Instagram features intended to keep children engaged while internally documenting mental-health concerns associated with young users. The states also alleged that the company failed to adequately warn parents about those risks.
The agreement resolves claims from 47 states, along with Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.
For Maine families, some of the most noticeable changes could come directly to their children’s phones.
Meta will impose a combined two-hour daily limit on Facebook and Instagram for children, along with mandatory “Productive Pauses” after 15 minutes of continuous use and again after 60 and 90 minutes.
Those restrictions are scheduled to remain in place for five years.
Children will also face a nighttime block preventing access between midnight and 6 a.m., while Meta will eliminate push notifications to young users during school hours, from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. on weekdays.
The company must also strengthen age-verification measures, parental controls and safeguards against content involving bullying, eating disorders, suicide and self-harm.
Other provisions target features critics have argued encourage unhealthy social comparison among children, including beauty filters and visible “like” counts.
An independent auditor and the participating states will assess whether Meta is actually implementing the changes and whether they are effective.
The settlement could eventually go even further.
If Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube agree to comparable restrictions, Meta’s daily limit could drop to one hour per platform for children and remain in effect for 10 years.
Frey suggested Wednesday that the Meta settlement should be viewed as a first step rather than the end of state efforts to regulate children’s use of social media.
“While this settlement is an important step, the need to make social media safer for children must extend to the entire industry,” Frey said. “We will continue to work with our multistate partners to push for comprehensive changes that prioritize the safety and welfare of children over profit.”
Gov. Janet Mills also praised the settlement, saying social media companies have operated for too long without sufficient regulation.
“For too long, social media has gone unregulated, harming the mental health of vulnerable children,” Mills said. “I applaud Attorney General Frey and his colleagues for bringing this case against Meta.”
Mills said the agreement will result in stronger parental controls, restrictions on harmful content and changes intended to address what she described as the addictive nature of social media.
The governor also tied the settlement to Maine’s recently enacted “Bell to Bell, No Cell” law, which restricts cellphone use in Maine schools.
The Meta agreement represents a significant financial windfall for Maine, but questions remain about precisely how the state’s minimum $56 million share will ultimately be used.
Frey’s announcement did not detail a Maine-specific spending plan for the money.
Nationally, Reuters reported that some states plan to place settlement proceeds into general government accounts, while others intend to direct portions toward children’s mental-health programs. Meta’s payments will be spread over the next decade.
The settlement also does not completely remake Meta’s business model. Personalized recommendations and targeted advertising, two major components of the company’s lucrative social media business, remain largely untouched. Meta earned more than $60 billion last year, according to Reuters.
The agreement nevertheless represents one of the most consequential efforts yet to restrict how America’s largest social media platforms interact with children.
For Maine parents, that means new tools and restrictions governing how their children use Facebook and Instagram.
For Maine taxpayers, it means at least $56 million headed to the state.
And for Frey, the agreement appears to be only the beginning of a broader effort to pressure the rest of the social media industry to follow Meta’s lead.
Wonderful, now Maine has an extra $56 million to give to trans porn shows in public libraries.
This is definitely going to end all privacy on the Internet when we are all required to upload our drivers license is to every identity thief in the world.
Let’s kick back and see how Mills and the dems can waste this 56 million!