States allege Meta's platforms addictive to children

More than three dozen states sued Facebook and Instagram parent Meta on Tuesday, accusing the social media giant of knowingly designing features to lure children to its social platforms, causing addiction and harming young people's mental health.

In a federal lawsuit filed in California by 33 attorneys general, the states allege that Meta's products have harmed minors and contributed to a mental health crisis in the United States.

Colorado, Tennessee and Massachusetts led the joint lawsuit in federal court in the Northern District of California, along with 30 other states, claiming that the company broke consumer protection laws by using features such as infinite news feeds and regular notifications that attract children, potentially causing mental health crises in the US.

The District of Columbia and eight other states also sued the same company for similar reasons in state and local courts, respectively.

"Meta has harnessed powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens," the complaint said. "Its motive is profit, and in seeking to maximize its financial gains, Meta has repeatedly misled the public about the substantial dangers of its social media platforms.

"It has concealed the ways in which these platforms exploit and manipulate its most vulnerable consumers: teenagers and children.''

The 233-page complaint alleges that Meta's strategy involved maximizing young users' engagement through manipulative features while downplaying the harm, despite knowing the adverse effects on their mental and physical health, and that Meta consistently misled the public about the substantial dangers.

The states also allege that Meta knowingly marketed its products to users under the age of 13, collecting data without parental consent, which violates the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

"Our bipartisan investigation has arrived at a solemn conclusion: Meta has been harming our children and teens, cultivating addiction to boost corporate profits," California Attorney General Rob Bonta, one of the officials leading the effort, said in a statement.

The federal complaint seeks court orders to prevent Meta, which is headquartered in Menlo Park, California, from breaking the law and, in numerous states, requests unspecified financial penalties.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the lawsuits are a result of stalled settlement negotiations with Meta. The company is still under investigation by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys.

"Since this investigation has begun, we have engaged in a meaningful dialogue with the attorneys general regarding the ways Meta already works to support young people on its platforms, and how Meta is continuously working to improve young peoples' experiences," a Meta spokesperson said. "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."

The spokesperson said supporting teens requires examining the many issues they struggle with and recognizing that many find support and community on social media. Meta also said that the company already has introduced more than 30 tools to support teens and their families.

Meta's impact on young individuals gained widespread attention nationally following a 2021 Wall Street Journal report. The report, based on internal research leaked by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, said that Instagram had a negative impact on youth mental health, especially making some teenage girls' body issues worse.

It said that 13.5 percent of teen girls said Instagram made thoughts of suicide worse, and 17 percent of teen girls said it made eating disorders worse.

Haugen, a former employee, took more than 20,000 screenshots of records about the company's research into its product's potential harm. The research revealed that "for a substantial minority of teens with existing mental health vulnerabilities, Instagram posed risks".

The joint complaint stated that other 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.

"Kids and teenagers are suffering from record levels of poor mental health and social media companies like Meta are to blame," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. "Meta has profited from children's pain by intentionally designing its platforms with manipulative features that make children addicted to their platforms while lowering their self-esteem."

Internal research from Meta indicated that 32 percent of girls mentioned that when they experienced negative feelings about their bodies, Instagram further intensified those feelings, the Journal reported.

The platform's emphasis on showcasing idealized physical aspects and its concentration on users' appearances led to the conclusion that Instagram-driven comparisons can alter how young women perceive and define themselves, the report said.

"Teens told us that they don't like the amount of time they spend on the app but feel like they have to be present," an Instagram research manager explained to colleagues, the Journal report said. "They often feel 'addicted' and know that what they're seeing is bad for their mental health but feel unable to stop themselves."

The coalition of attorneys is elevating the lawsuit to the federal level and is simultaneously advocating for enhanced privacy and safety measures for children.

District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb wouldn't comment on whether his office is also looking at TikTok or Snapchat. For now, the focus is on Facebook and Instagram, he said.

In May, US Surgeon General Dr Vivek Murthy called on tech companies, parents, and caregivers to take "immediate action to protect kids now" from the harms of social media.

Agencies contributed to this story.