42 US states sue Meta for 'addicting' children

California, New York and other US states are suing Meta for harming young people and contributing to the youth mental health crisis by deliberately designing features on Instagram and Facebook that make children addicted to their platforms.

A lawsuit filed by 33 states in a California federal court alleges that Meta routinely collects data from children under 13 without parental consent, in violation of federal law. In addition, nine attorneys general filed lawsuits in their respective states, bringing the total number of states taking action against Meta to 41, not including Washington, DC.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives at federal court in San Jose, California on December 20, 2022. (Photo: Bloomberg)

“Meta exploits powerful, unprecedented technologies to lure, engage, and ultimately trap young people,” the lawsuit reads. “Motivated by profit, and to maximize financial gain, Meta repeatedly misleads the public about the dire risks of its social media platforms. It conceals how its platforms exploit and manipulate its most vulnerable users — teens, children.”

The lawsuit seeks financial damages and an end to Meta’s illegal practices . New York Attorney General Letitia James said children and teens are suffering from record levels of poor mental health, and social media companies like Meta are to blame. “Meta profits from children’s pain by deliberately designing its platforms with manipulative features that keep children addicted to the platform while lowering their self-esteem,” she said.

Meta said it offers more than 30 tools to support teens and families, and expressed disappointment at being sued.

The federal lawsuit is the result of an investigation led by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee and Vermont. Earlier, the US press reported that Meta's own research showed that the company itself knew about the harm Instagram was causing to teens - especially girls - in terms of mental health and body image. Among them, 13.5% of teenage girls said Instagram made suicidal thoughts worse and 17% said Instagram worsened eating disorders.

Following the initial Wall Street Journal reports, a coalition of other news organizations, including the AP, published their own findings based on leaked documents from former Meta employee Frances Haugen, who testified before the US Congress and a British parliamentary committee about her findings.

“Meta has been harming our children and teens, fostering addiction to fuel corporate profits,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta charged.

In the United States and many other parts of the world, social media use among teens is extremely common. Most 13- to 17-year-olds in the United States use a social media platform, and about a third say they use it almost constantly, according to the Pew Research Center.

To comply with federal regulations, social media companies prohibit children under 13 from registering accounts, but children can easily circumvent the law without parental permission. The states’ complaint alleges that Meta intentionally violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting children’s data without notifying or seeking parental permission.

In addition to age restrictions, other measures these companies are taking to address concerns about children’s mental health are also vulnerable. TikTok, for example, recently introduced a 60-minute time limit for users under 18. But once that limit is reached, kids simply need to enter a passcode to continue watching.

Washington DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb would not comment on whether TikTok or Snapchat are being looked into. For now, they are focusing on the Meta “empire.” “They are the worst when it comes to using technology to ‘addict’ teens to social media, all of them putting profit before people,” he said.

In May, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called on technology companies, parents, and caregivers to take immediate action to protect children from the harmful effects of social media.

(According to AP)

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