Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, formerly Facebook, is being sued by 42 U.S. states in multiple lawsuits accusing the tech giant of harming young people’s mental health with addictive Facebook and Instagram features. The states, however, have not filed a similar complaint against the Chinese-owned app TikTok, which has shown itself to be a danger to young people.
In one lawsuit, 33 states accuse Meta of knowingly designing Facebook and Instagram features that addict children and teens to the platforms. In addition to the 33 states, nine other attorneys general are filing suits in their states, bringing the total number of states taking action against Meta to 42, according to a report by Associated Press.
Mark Zuckerberg surrounded by guards ( Chip Somodevilla /Getty)
The complaint, filed against Meta Platforms Inc. in federal court in California, claims the company consistently collects data on children under 13 years of age, without their parents’ consent, which is a violation of federal law. It also accuses the tech giant of damaging young people’s mental health and contributing to the youth mental health crisis.
The lawsuit states, in part:
Meta has harnessed powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens. 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. It has concealed the ways in which these platforms exploit and manipulate its most vulnerable consumers: teenagers and children.
The complaint was reportedly filed after an investigation by a coalition of attorneys general.
“Kids and teenagers are suffering from record levels of poor mental health and social media companies like Meta are to blame,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said. “Meta has profited from children’s pain by intentionally designing its platforms with manipulative features that make children addicted to their platforms while lowering their self-esteem.”
Meta responded to the legal action, saying it shares “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.”
“We’re disappointed that instead of working productively with companies across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the many apps teens use, the attorneys general have chosen this path,” the company added.
Notably, while nearly all of the U.S. states are suing Meta, they have not taken similar action against TikTok, despite mounting evidence that the app popular with children and teens is little more than Chinese spyware and psychological manipulation thinly veiled as a social media platform.
As Breitbart News reported, the app, owned by a hostile foreign country, is known as being harmful to young people, as it encourages kids to participate in trends that are dangerous and life-threatening — with some instances even resulting in death.
TikTok is also widely viewed as a national security threat, and an entity that has meddled in U.S. elections.
Some states, however, are trying to take action against the Chinese app. In May, Montana became the first U.S. state to ban TikTok when Governor Greg Gianforte (R) singed legislation that he said would protect the residents of his state from “the Chinese Communist Party.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and X/Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.