Dozens of states are suing Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms and its Instagram unit, accusing them of contributing to a youth mental health crisis through the addictive nature of their social media platforms.
In a grievance filed within the Oakland, Calif., federal court, 33 states said Meta, which also operates Facebook has repeatedly misled the general public concerning the substantial dangers of its platforms and knowingly induced young children and teenagers into addictive and compulsive social media use.
“Meta has harnessed powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and youths,” the grievance said. “Its motive is profit.”
Their lawsuit seeks a wide range of remedies, including substantial civil penalties.
Meta said that it had sought to make teens secure online.
“We’re dissatisfied that as a substitute of working productively with corporations across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the numerous apps teens use, the attorneys general have chosen this path,” Meta said in an email statement.
Much of the concentrate on Meta stems from the discharge of documents in 2021 that showed that Meta had data showing that Instagram, which began as a photo-sharing app, was addictive and worsens body image issues for some teen girls.
The lawsuit alleges that Meta strives to make sure that young people spend as much time as possible on social media despite knowing that teenage brains are liable to the necessity for approval in the shape of “likes” from other users about their content. Meta deceptively denied publicly that its social media was harmful, the lawsuit said.
Nine other states are expected to file similar lawsuits on Tuesday, bringing the overall variety of states suing to 42.
The Menlo Park, Calif., company and other social media corporations already face tons of of lawsuits brought on behalf of kids and faculty districts raising similar claims.
Dozens of states are suing Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms and its Instagram unit, accusing them of contributing to a youth mental health crisis through the addictive nature of their social media platforms.
In a grievance filed within the Oakland, Calif., federal court, 33 states said Meta, which also operates Facebook has repeatedly misled the general public concerning the substantial dangers of its platforms and knowingly induced young children and teenagers into addictive and compulsive social media use.
“Meta has harnessed powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and youths,” the grievance said. “Its motive is profit.”
Their lawsuit seeks a wide range of remedies, including substantial civil penalties.
Meta said that it had sought to make teens secure online.
“We’re dissatisfied that as a substitute of working productively with corporations across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the numerous apps teens use, the attorneys general have chosen this path,” Meta said in an email statement.
Much of the concentrate on Meta stems from the discharge of documents in 2021 that showed that Meta had data showing that Instagram, which began as a photo-sharing app, was addictive and worsens body image issues for some teen girls.
The lawsuit alleges that Meta strives to make sure that young people spend as much time as possible on social media despite knowing that teenage brains are liable to the necessity for approval in the shape of “likes” from other users about their content. Meta deceptively denied publicly that its social media was harmful, the lawsuit said.
Nine other states are expected to file similar lawsuits on Tuesday, bringing the overall variety of states suing to 42.
The Menlo Park, Calif., company and other social media corporations already face tons of of lawsuits brought on behalf of kids and faculty districts raising similar claims.
