US states sue Meta for harming mental health of youth and children

Dozens of US states are suing Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, for allegedly fueling a youth mental health crisis. To the complaint Thirty-three states are already participating, and nine more are expected to join.. Prosecutors point to the addictive nature of Mark Zuckerberg’s social media platforms.

“Meta used powerful and unprecedented technology to attract, engage, and ultimately entrap youth and teenagers,” according to the complaint, filed Tuesday in federal court in Oakland, California. “His motivation is profit” secures the document.

Meta, according to the states, repeatedly misled the public about the substantial dangers of its platforms. And, knowing the risks, he also encouraged compulsive use of his drugs in children and adolescents.

The indictment is the result of a trial that began in 2021. “Our bipartisan investigation has solemnly concluded: “Meth is harming our children and teens by cultivating addiction to increase corporate profits.”Rob Bont, California’s attorney general and one of the officials leading the effort, said in a statement.

The lawsuit also accuses Meta of violating federal laws protecting children’s privacy by collecting data from younger users. States seek a variety of remedies, including substantial civil penalties.

Meta studies the damage to young people’s mental health

Meta has confirmed several times that its platforms can be very harmful to teenagers. In September 2021 Wall Street Journal published research the company conducted on the impact of Instagram on its users. “We are exacerbating body image issues for one in three teenage women.” This is stated in one of the conclusions of the internal analysis, which the company has known about since at least 2020.

The leaked reports, which Meta decided to keep secret, revealed how Instagram created depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. In particular, 13% of young British women surveyed in an internal study identified Instagram as a driving force behind their suicidal ideation. 6% of young women in the US said the same. The data was released by Frances Haugen, a former product manager at Facebook.

Several months before these internal reports came to light, Mark Zuckerber testified before the US Congress. knowing what these tests say.

But other studies warn of the dangers for much longer. For example, the Pew Research Center in the US reported in 2018 that almost half of young people feel “overwhelmed” by social media. Instagram in 2017 was already recognized as the most toxic of all. According to a study conducted by the Royal Society of Public Health and the University of Cambridge.

US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has been persistent throughout this year in his warning about excessive social media use and the impact on children’s mental health. “13 years is too young” to use these platforms, Murthy said in February. This is the minimum age required to register on Instagram and other networks.

What does Meta say about the complaint?

Mehta said she was “disappointed” by the prosecutor’s complaint. “We are disappointed that instead of working productively with companies across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for many of the apps teens use, the attorneys general chose this path,” company spokeswoman Lisa Crenshaw said in a statement.

Meta has taken some steps in recent years to calm criticism. After investigation Wall Street Journal, For example, Meta has suspended its plans for Instagram was created specifically for children under 13 years of age. According to the company, this was a way to solve the problem that some children were lying about their age when registering. It also introduced a range of parental control tools.

The European Commission in June demanded Zuckerberg “immediately take action” to protect children on Instagram. But in this case, we were talking about another investigation that showed how Instagram algorithms promote networks of users associated with pedophilia. More than one billion people use Instagram around the world. Of the total, It is estimated that almost 40% of them are under 24 years of age.