LANSING, Mich. — Two Michigan House members from opposite parties want the state share of a major social media settlement locked into helping kids. State Reps. Julie Rogers, a Kalamazoo Democrat, and Mike Mueller, a Linden Republican, are sponsoring House Bills 6463 and 6464.
The bills would set up a Youth Social Media Settlement Fund inside the Michigan Department of Treasury. Money from lawsuits and settlements involving social media companies would flow into it, and the Department of Health and Human Services would hand it out as grants.
Eligible uses listed in the package include youth mental health care, crisis response, after-school programs, mentoring and other programs backed by evidence. The bills also call for a statewide plan and yearly reports so lawmakers can track where the money goes.
The first big deposit would come from Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram. Attorney General Dana Nessel announced in August that Michigan will get at least $171 million from a multistate deal.
That settlement resolved claims by 47 states plus Washington, D.C., and several territories that Meta built Instagram with addictive features, exposed young users to mental harm and misled the public about safety.
Beyond the money, the agreement requires changes on both apps for minors: a combined two-hour daily limit with forced breaks after 15 minutes of nonstop scrolling, a block on access from midnight to 6 a.m., no push notifications during weekday school hours, tougher age checks and stronger parental controls.
In statements announcing the bills, Rogers said the state has a duty to make sure the recovered money helps young people, and Mueller said it should pay for solutions to growing mental health problems. The bills now go through the House committee process.
Section: More Lansing MI politics news
Filed under: Lansing MI Politics News
