More than 30 states filed a federal lawsuit against Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, alleging the platforms’ apps are designed to be addictive and harm children’s mental health.
The lawsuit signed by 33 state attorneys general was filed Tuesday in a San Francisco federal court. The suit claims Meta violated both federal children’s online privacy law and state consumer protection laws by making its products addictive and then lying about how they harm children’s mental health.
Additionally, eight state attorneys general and the District of Columbia are filing separate lawsuits in their own state courts alleging Meta’s practices violate state consumer protection laws. In total, 42 states, including the District of Columbia, filed lawsuits in federal and state courts Tuesday.B
If some parents denied their kids access to social media, the only effect would be to isolate them from their peers. That’s just how it works these days. Social media by itself is perfectly fine, the issue is how the companies running the networks are manipulative.