Meta Platforms
faces multiple lawsuits filed in federal and state courts Tuesday alleging that the tech-giant is responsible for harming young people’s mental health.
According to a news release from the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, 32 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit in federal court in the Northern District of California. On top of the 32 states in that lawsuit, nine others, including Washington, D.C., have decided to also bring state cases against the Facebook parent, alleging similar concerns.
The lawsuits say
Meta
knowingly designed and deployed harmful features on its collection of social media apps such as Instagram and Facebook that purposefully addict young children and teens.
The attorneys general also claim that Meta routinely collects data on children under the age of 13 without parent’s permission.
“Kids and teenagers are suffering from record levels of poor mental health and social media companies like Meta are to blame,” said Attorney General James in the news release. “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.”
A Meta spokesperson told Barron’s in an email: “We share the attorneys 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.”
Social media platforms including Facebook and TikTok have faced scrutiny for their policies regarding younger users. Meta said that since the investigation began, it was engaged in dialogue with the attorneys general regarding the ways it supports young users.
The attorneys general say some of the features Meta uses to addict young people and harm their mental health include notification alerts that come in throughout the day — including during school hours — visual filters to change someone’s appearance in a photo, and algorithms that are designed to recommend content to keep users on the platform longer.
Shares of Meta were down 0.4% to $312.65 on Tuesday. The stock has surged 160% this year.
Write to Angela Palumbo at [email protected]
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