A boy watches as he uses a Meta app on his phone, in a file image.Matt Cardy (Getty Images)
New blow for Meta in court. A coalition made up of prosecutors from 41 states and the District of Columbia, the capital of the United States, filed a lawsuit this Tuesday against the technology giant, owner of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. “Meta has repeatedly misled the public about the significant dangers posed by its social media platforms,” the more than 200-page document says. The report argues that Mark Zuckerberg’s company designed its products to be addictive among minors, specifically targeting those under 13, even though this demographic is discouraged from using Facebook and Instagram. Meta’s lawsuit aims to clearly point out that its products pose a risk to younger users. “Meta leveraged powerful and unprecedented technologies to attract, engage, and ultimately entrap youth and adolescents,” the document states.
The lawsuit follows a series of failed negotiations between the tech company and the attorneys general of states, including the country’s most populous regions such as California and New York. Authorities in these regions, both Democrats and Republicans, had launched a comprehensive investigation in 2021 into the impact that social networks such as Instagram have on minors and young people. Prosecutors’ starting point is that Meta is failing to protect this population and that on many occasions he has even redoubled his efforts to manipulate them and develop an addiction that would prolong their time on screen. The parties had been discussing a possible agreement for months for the company to compensate for the damage. That didn’t exist.
Meta said in a statement to the AP agency: “We are disappointed that the state attorneys general have chosen this path instead of working productively with industrial companies to create clear age standards for all young people who use the applications.” The company assures, that since the investigation began, it has had a “significant dialogue” with authorities about the efforts they are making to improve the experience of younger users, including thirty tools aimed at this group and their families.
Mark Zuckerberg presents Meta, the new name of the Facebook campaign and shows his avatar.Meta
But prosecutors don’t believe Meta did enough to protect minors. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in California, many parts of which have been redacted because they are part of the investigation, alleges that the company is collecting data and information from minors under the age of 13 without the permission of their parents and guardians, in violation against US federal laws.
They also claim that the company has spent years trying to attract this demographic to compete with apps like TikTok and Snapchat, which have been more successful among minors than Instagram. And publish reports that minimize the actual impact of the content on the mental health of minors. “Our bipartisan investigation [la demanda está apoyada por Estados republicanos y demócratas] concluded: “Meta has harmed our children and youth by cultivating addictions to increase their corporate income,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said Tuesday.
Prosecutors raised concerns in court that had already been raised by school districts across the United States. They were the first to take legal action against technology companies and their attention-grabbing economic model, which has touched the minds of thousands of students. Instagram and Meta are just part of this problem. Lawsuits have also been filed in California courts demanding that TikTok be transparent about its data and policies regarding minors. This case is ongoing.
Teen use of social networks in the United States is nearly universal. 95% of young people ages 13 to 17 say they have at least one digital platform, and more than a third use it constantly, according to the Pew Center. Thanks to the public denunciation of Frances Haugen, the industry’s driving force, the public is aware of some of the manipulation strategies these companies have used in recent years to consolidate their leadership positions. This is despite the fact that the companies knew that constant exposure to their content could lead to serious mental health problems. A 2021 Wall Street Journal internal meta-document states that 13.5% of teenage girls believe Instagram makes suicidal thoughts worse. 17% of girls also believe they make eating disorders worse.
Laetitia James, the New York prosecutor, also published a corresponding statement. “Children and young people are suffering from record levels of mental health problems and social media companies are to blame,” he said in a statement. To comply with federal regulations, social networks have banned minors under 13 from using their platforms. However, research shows that there is no serious supervision and children can easily bypass this obstacle. Tech companies have refused to tighten filters.
California and New York are also joined by Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey and North Carolina. North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
The vast majority of US companies have taken legal action against Meta. Other key states like Florida and Texas, both conservative bastions, have not joined this class action lawsuit but have filed similar lawsuits against major tech companies. In addition, lawsuits were also filed this Tuesday in local courts in Washington DC, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and Vermont.
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