States sue Meta, claim Instagram, Facebook harm kids’ mental health

Dozens of states filed suit Tuesday against Meta, the parent company of the social media platforms Instagram and Facebook, claiming that the tech giant is harming the mental health of children by building features that it knows is addictive.

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The attorneys general of 33 states filed a federal lawsuit against Meta Platforms in California, while nine filed lawsuits in their respective state courts, according to California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

Bonta, who is among the leaders of the effort, announced a nationwide investigation into Meta and its impact on young people in November 2021.

“Our bipartisan investigation has arrived at a solemn conclusion: Meta has been harming our children and teens, cultivating addiction to boost corporate profits,” Bonta said Tuesday. “With today’s lawsuit, we are drawing the line. We must protect our children and we will not back down from this fight.”

In a statement obtained by WFXT, a spokesperson for Meta said the company was “disappointed” that attorneys general chose to sue “instead of working productively with companies across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the many apps teens use.”

“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,” the spokesperson said.

In the 233-page federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, states said Meta “created a business model focused on maximizing young users’ time and attention spent on its Social Media Platforms” and designed “harmful and psychologically manipulative product features” aimed at enticing users under the age of 18 to stay engaged longer.

“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,” according to the lawsuit. “It has concealed the ways in which these Platforms exploit and manipulate its most vulnerable consumers: teenagers and children. And it has ignored the sweeping damage these Platforms have caused to the mental and physical health of our nation’s youth.”

The lawsuit comes two years after The Wall Street Journal first reported that Meta’s internal research found that company knew that Instagram could pose harm to teen users and especially teen girls grappling with mental health and body image issues.

In California, Bonta was joined in the federal lawsuit by the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

The attorneys general of Florida, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont and the District of Columbia filed lawsuits in their own state courts.

Massachusetts and New Hampshire are among the 41 states suing Meta Platforms Inc.

New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella announced the Granite State's lawsuit in Merrimack County Superior Court.

New Hampshire's complaint alleges that "Meta purposefully designed its popular platforms, Facebook and Instagram, to include addictive features with the goal of enticing and prolonging time children spend scrolling on the platforms.  Such features include an algorithm intentionally designed to ensure maximum time spent on the platform, infinite scrolling, and ephemeral content.  The Complaint alleges that when children attempt to step away from using the Platforms, Meta bombards them with regular alerts that are intentionally designed to lure them back.  These and other features work together to exploit the developmental vulnerabilities of children and trap them into never-ending use that the social media giant knows harms their mental health and wellbeing."

In a statement, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said, “This lawsuit against Meta marks a significant development in New Hampshire’s ongoing efforts and investigation of social media companies and the harms they perpetrate against the children of our State. "This spring I issued an executive order directing State agencies to develop a curriculum specifically related to social media harms. At the same time, the Attorney General’s Office has begun investigations into additional companies and that work remains ongoing today. These actions show the health and welfare of our children are paramount concerns, and we will take real action to protect New Hampshire’s kids.”

Formella's complaint further alleges that the "company designed its social media platforms with the intention to draw children into excessive use, despite the company’s full knowledge that extended use poses significant harm to children’s physical and mental health. The State also alleges that despite knowledge of the harm, the company continues to target its product to children and most importantly, misrepresents the safety of its platforms to parents and children."

The complaint contains five separate counts, alleging that:

 -- Meta intentionally deployed addictive design features and algorithms to facilitate extended use of its products by children despite knowing the risks posed to this vulnerable population, an unfair business practice under the State’s Consumer Protection Act.

-- Meta deceptively made public statements and promises about the safety of its products, their non-addictive nature, and the company’s prioritization of users’ well-being—directly contradicting Meta’s own internal business practices and findings that undermined these statements, a deceptive business practice under the State’s Consumer Protection Act.

-- Meta’s algorithms and design features used to target young children are defective products under the State’s product liability law.

-- Meta has also failed to inform parents and users about the dangerous features of these products and the risks posed by use, a separate violation of State law.

-- Meta has negligently distributed its platforms to children of the State baiting them into excessive and compulsive use while failing to inform the users—and their parents—of the harms that could result.

New Hampshire is seeking to hold Meta liable for these practices and asks the Court to enter an injunction requiring substantive changes in how the company operates.

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