October 28th 2023.
Meta, the company which oversees Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is facing an onslaught of legal cases brought forward by 41 U.S. states. Colorado, Tennessee, and Massachusetts are leading the joint lawsuit, which is comprised of 33 states, and 8 additional states and D.C. have also filed separate suits.
The lawsuits allege that Meta deliberately incorporated features on its social media platforms that entrapped and addicted minors while falsely marketing them as secure environments. The complaints assert that Meta's algorithms were intentionally created to expose children to dangerous content, with tactics such as infinite scroll and persistent notifications employed to extend user engagement. These accusations range from violations of federal privacy laws to breaches of consumer protection regulations.
The joint complaint states, "Research has shown that young people’s use of Meta’s Social Media Platforms is associated with depression, anxiety, insomnia, interference with education and daily life, and many other negative outcomes. However, Meta has continued to deny and play down these damaging effects to the public and to advertise its Platforms as safe for young users."
The lawsuit also claims that Meta has utilized powerful and unprecedented technologies to attract, engage, and ultimately ensnare minors for the purpose of profit. It is alleged that Meta has deliberately misled the public about the serious risks of its Social Media Platforms and has neglected to recognize the catastrophic influence these Platforms have had on young people's mental and physical health.
In response to the lawsuits, a Meta spokesperson commented, “We share the attorney general’s commitment to providing teens with safe, positive experiences online, and have already introduced over 30 tools to support teens and their families. We’re disappointed that instead of working productively with companies across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the many apps teens use, the attorneys general have chosen this path.”
A separate lawsuit filed in 2020 by a California family claimed that their teenage daughter's eating disorder and mental health issues were caused by her use of Instagram. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy raised concerns about children's use of social media early in 2023, suggesting that the current minimum age of 13 was too young, and in May he characterized social media as a "profound risk" for youth, advocating for parents to limit their children's access to such platforms.
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