Attorneys General from dozens of U.S. states have filed a lawsuit against Meta and its social media platforms due to their negative impacts on young users. The lawsuit accuses Instagram, Facebook, and their parent company Meta of contributing to the mental health crisis among youth through the addictive nature of their social media platforms. The lawsuit filed in federal court in Oakland, California, on Tuesday claims that Meta has repeatedly misled the public about the significant risks of its platforms and has deliberately encouraged young children and teenagers to use social media in an addictive and compulsive manner.
The complaint, submitted by 33 states including California and Illinois, states: "Meta has harnessed powerful, unprecedented techniques to entice and engage young people, ultimately ensnaring them. Its motive is profit." The lawsuit alleges that Meta is making efforts to ensure youth spend as much time as possible on social media by deliberately designing its platforms with manipulative features. It also mentions that the company has deceptively denied the harmful effects of its social media publicly.
Nine additional states are expected to file similar lawsuits, bringing the total number of states suing to 42. Public interest in the impact of social media on children's mental health peaked in 2021 when former employee and whistleblower Frances Haugen released internal documents showing that Instagram exacerbated body image issues among some teenage girls and that the company was aware of this.
These revelations, mentioned in the lawsuit, led to a congressional hearing on the impact of social media on youth. Meta and other social media companies are already facing hundreds of lawsuits filed on behalf of children and school districts making similar claims. Earlier this year, lawyers representing over 100 families filed a major complaint accusing social media companies, including Meta, Snapchat, Google, and TikTok's parent company ByteDance, of harming youth with their products. This case is ongoing.
In a joint statement, the lawyers in that case praised the action taken by the U.S. Attorneys General. They stated: "This important step underscores the undeniable urgent need to address the addictive and harmful impact of social media platforms, a matter of utmost national significance as it continues to contribute to the widespread mental health crisis among American youth."
For its part, Meta confirmed in a statement that it aims to keep teens safe online. A company spokesperson expressed disappointment, saying: "We are disappointed that instead of working productively with companies across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for many of the apps teenagers use, the Attorneys General chose this path."
