Nebraska will receive up to $201,092,032.56 as part of a $17.1 billion multistate settlement with Meta Platforms, Inc., announced by Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers.
The settlement, described as the largest state consumer protection settlement in history outside of the Big Tobacco settlements of the 1990s, resolves claims brought by 47 states and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.
The states alleged that Meta designed Instagram with addictive features, knowingly exposed young users to serious mental health harms and intentionally misled the public about the safety of its platforms, among other claims.
As part of the agreement, Meta will be required to implement a series of safety measures on Instagram and Facebook aimed at protecting children and teenagers.
Among the changes are a combined two-hour daily time limit for children across Instagram and Facebook, along with mandatory “Productive Pauses” after 15 minutes of continuous use and again at 60 and 90 minutes. Those limits will remain in place 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.
The settlement also requires Meta to establish nighttime blocks preventing children from accessing the platforms between midnight and 6 a.m. During the school year, weekday push notifications will be eliminated between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Additional requirements include stronger age-verification measures, safer and age-appropriate content controls, stronger protections against bullying and content involving eating disorders, suicide and self-harm, and more user-friendly parental controls.
Meta will also be required to limit certain social comparison features, including beauty filters and visible “like” counts, which have been linked to poor mental health outcomes among children and teenagers.
An independent auditor and the settling states will regularly assess both the implementation and effectiveness of the required safety features.
Hilgers said the settlement represents a significant step toward protecting children from potential harms associated with social media, while also acknowledging that the issue extends beyond a single company.
The investigation into the social media industry began in 2021, when nearly every state attorney general in the country began working together to examine allegations that social media platforms were designed and promoted to children and teenagers despite known risks.
Following the bipartisan, nationwide investigation, attorneys general sued Meta individually or as part of a consolidated federal lawsuit. The settlement resolves those cases, along with claims brought by the other states and territories involved in the agreement.
The settlement also resolves claims involving Meta’s sharing of nonpublic Facebook user information with third parties, including Cambridge Analytica, in the period leading up to the 2016 election. Nebraska will receive an additional $5,146,813.80 from that portion of the settlement.
In a statement announcing the agreement, Hilgers said the states entered the litigation to protect children and described the settlement as a step toward changes that could have a lasting impact on children and their parents.
The agreement includes attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, the Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Hilgers launches online safety guide for parents following Meta settlement
The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office has released a new guide designed to help parents protect their children online following the state’s settlement with Meta.
“Parenting in the Digital Age” covers a variety of online safety topics, including screen time, social media use, grooming and cyberbullying. The guide also includes tools intended to help parents identify hidden apps and photos on their children’s phones.
Attorney General Mike Hilgers said the office intends to continue working to hold the technology industry accountable for what he described as misleading Nebraska parents and harming children online. He said the new guide is intended to provide parents with a resource to help them make informed decisions about their children’s online activity.
Free printed copies of “Parenting in the Digital Age” are available at the Nebraska Attorney General’s booth at the Nebraska State Fair. The guide is also available online, and parents can request a free printed copy by contacting the Consumer Affairs Response Team at 402-471-2785.
The Attorney General’s Office also says online child exploitation can be reported to the FBI Omaha Field Office at 402-493-8688.
