The lawsuits alleged that Meta Platforms, led by co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, knowingly designed Instagram and other social media platforms in a way that is addictive for children and teens and harms their mental health, all while assuring the public that the platforms were safe for young people.
Mayes said Meta was partly to blame for the “youth mental health crisis in America.”
“This ongoing catastrophe has ended lives, devastated families and damaged the potential of our nation’s youth,” Mayes said in a prepared statement. “Meta not only ignored the well-being of young users but deliberately misled the public, claiming their platforms were safe. By violating consumer protection laws and federal privacy standards, they've put the mental health and well-being of an entire generation at risk.”
Mayes and attorneys general in 32 other states filed a complaint in federal court in northern California, where Meta is headquartered, while Florida filed its own federal complaint. In addition, eight attorneys general filed lawsuits in state courts, though Mayes did not file a separate suit in Arizona.
The primary federal lawsuit is seeking monetary damages for violations of federal law as well as an injunction, which could force Meta to change aspects of its social media platforms.
A coalition of state attorneys general is investigating TikTok over the same safety claims that led it to sue Instagram and Facebook.
TikTok
TikTok might be next platform to face lawsuits
Recently, at least 10 Arizona school districts sued tech giants TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat for allegedly harming students’ mental health.About 36% of high school students in Arizona said their mental health was “most of the time or always not good,” which was nearly 7% higher than the national average, according to a 2021 survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Mayes said addictive features such as infinite scroll and constant alerts were “created with the express goal of hooking young users.” The lawsuits alleged that Meta knew these features harmed the physical and mental health of young people but did not disclose the harm or make changes to its platforms.
Facebook faced backlash when internal documents made public by a whistleblower in 2021 showed the company knew Instagram was addictive and had a negative impact on young girls’ body images. Just days later, Facebook changed its name to Meta and pointed to tools it had introduced to make social media safer for teens.
On Tuesday, a Meta spokesperson told Phoenix New Times that the company is "disappointed" with the lawsuits.
“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,” said Meta spokesperson Andy Stone in a prepared statement.
Mayes said that TikTok could be the next social media company targeted by the attorneys general. The coalition is investigating the company over similar concerns, and states have pushed for adequate disclosure of information and documents in litigation related to discovery requests by the Tennessee Attorney General’s office.
