The US states say that social media products ruin teens mental health
State courts indict Meta from a Facebook leak that exposed the company’s negligence and self-destructive behavior to a teenager killed by an image on Instagram
Lawmakers and civil society have criticized Meta over the way its products impact youth safety. One of these leaks pointed to internal Facebook studies that found Instagram undermined the confidence of young users, and affected users weren’t logging off. The complaint cites Haugen’s leaks as part of its claims against Meta.
That November, a bipartisan group of attorneys general, including Colorado, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, announced a joint investigation into Instagram’s impact — and potential harmful effects — on young people.
Regulators have also tried to hold social media companies accountable for possible harms to young people. The inquest found that there was a factor in the death of a teenager who took her own life after seeing thousands of self-destructive images on the platform.
More than 30 states joined a federal suit against Meta. Other attorneys general, including Tennessee and Washington, D.C., filed similar legal actions on Tuesday in state courts.
Collectively, more than 40 states paint a picture of a company that brushed aside safety concerns about its products in order to addict as many young people as possible as a way of juicing its profits.
Section 230, Slot Machines, and Twitter: A lawsuit arguing that Meta is not responsible for the content generated by users on social media
Generally, social media companies are immune from being held legally responsible for content generated by users under a law known as Section 230 that for decades has protected the tech industry.
“It’s a very close call as to whether Meta would succeed with a Section 230 defense,” according to Jeff Kosseff, a Section 230 scholar and author of the new book, “Liar in a Crowded Theater: Freedom of Speech in a World of Misinformation.”
Similar defective design claims against tech companies have been met with mixed results in the courts, with some judges allowing cases to move forward despite Section 230 and other courts throwing suits out because of the powerful legal shield.
In a statement, Meta spokeswoman Nkechi Nneji said the company shares the s commitment of the states to providing teens with a safe, positive experience online. The company has introduced features to support young users and their families.
Nneji said they are disappointed that instead of working with the industry to create clear, age appropriate standards for the many apps teens use, the attorneys general have chosen this path.
32% of teens who were unhappy with their bodies said using social media makes them feel worse, according to a new internal finding in the Facebook Files.
The states say Meta designed Instagram’s algorithms, which determine what content users see in their feeds, to expressly keep them hooked. According to a lawsuit, the benefit of presenting posts in order of expected interest is that Meta is able to benefit from what psychologists say is a variation of a slot machine. Users are conditioned to keep coming back and scrolling because they want to get a hit of dopamine when they find something that brings them pleasure, according to the lawsuit.
The Like count visible on Instagram posts provides a ready way for people to compare themselves to others. The option of hiding the tally is available, but it is not visible by default. “Meta could have, at a minimum, hidden Like counts for young users of Instagram and Facebook, but it declined to do so,” the lawsuit states.
California attorney general Rob Bonta told reporters today that the states know Meta had internal discussions about the negative impact of the Like button, but decided to keep it anyway. “Today we draw the line,” he says. “We must protect our children online and we will not back down from this fight.”
A group of 40 US states and the District of Columbia sued Facebook and Instagram’s parent company Meta, alleging they failed to protect young users from harmful content. They alleged that Facebook knew about Meta’s plans to have a ‘Like’ button on Instagram but kept it anyway. The states added that they also learned about Meta’s plans in an internal Facebook leak.