Meta, Formerly Facebook, Sued By CA, 32 Others, Over Harm To Kids

CALIFORNIA — Following a nearly two-year nationwide investigation, California — along with 32 other states — is suing Meta Platforms Inc., formerly known as Facebook, over the tech giant's alleged "harmful features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children and teens to their mental and physical detriment," it was announced Tuesday morning.

In addition to the federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, eight attorneys general also announced complaints against Meta in their respective state courts — Florida, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and Vermont. A suit was also filed in the District of Columbia, according to an online joint news conference Tuesday morning with attorneys general from California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire and Tennessee.

The federal and state complaints are the result of the nationwide investigation first announced on November 18, 2021.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said during the news conference that he and the other attorneys general are "standing up for our children and holding Meta accountable. Our bipartisan investigation has arrived at a solemn conclusion: Meta has been harming our children and teens, cultivating addiction to boost corporate profits. With today’s lawsuit, we are drawing the line. We must protect our children and we will not back down from this fight."

The federal lawsuit alleges Meta violated federal and state laws, including the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which protects the privacy of children under 13 years old; California's False Advertising Law, which prohibits false and misleading advertising; and California’s Unfair Competition Law, which prohibits unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business practices.

According to the complaint, Meta’s misconduct included the following:

• Creating a business model focused on maximizing young users’ time on its platforms.
• Employing harmful and psychologically manipulative platform features while misleading the public about the safety of those features.
• Publishing reports purporting to show misleadingly low rates of user harms.
• Refusing to address harms against youth while continuing to conceal and downplay its platforms’ adverse effects.

In addition to Facebook, Meta owns and operates the social media platforms Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp.

In an emailed response Tuesday from Meta, the company stated, "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. 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 Meta statement added that since the nationwide investigation began, "we have engaged in a meaningful dialogue with the attorneys general regarding the ways Meta already works to support young people on its platforms, and how Meta is continuously working to improve young peoples’ experiences.

"The issues identified by the attorneys general lend themselves to cross-industry standards for young people and the need to work with companies across the industry in addressing these topics," the statement continued. "Instagram is one of the top social media platforms young people use today, but other platforms are just as popular — and in some cases more popular — for teens."

Meta cited TikTok, YouTube and Snap as examples of other popular platforms, and said the lawsuit "makes it particularly disappointing that the attorneys general have chosen to single out one company, instead of taking the opportunity to work productively across the industry, especially if their motivations are, as they say, to address the impacts of social media at large."

Youth mental health is a complex issue, the company continued.

"To support teens, we need to look at the bigger picture and examine the many issues they struggle with in their daily lives, and we need to recognize that social media is a place many teens come to to find support and community when they're struggling," the Meta statement read.

In response to allegations made in the lawsuit, Meta claims it has developed over 30 tools to support teens on its apps that also make it "simple for parents to shape their family’s online experiences, and we see that they work."

Age verification, privacy settings, tools to prevent nefarious adults from engaging with kids, and banning dangerous content like suicide, self-harm and eating disorders are some of the tools cited by Meta.

While much of the federal complaint includes information conditionally under seal as part of the investigation by the attorneys general, publicly available sources — "including evidence disclosed by former Meta employees" — detail Meta’s efforts to attract young users and make its platforms addictive to children and teens, Bonta said. He cited a Wall Street Journal story that included an internal Facebook document stating young users "are a valuable but untapped audience."

In addition to Tuesday's federal lawsuit and those filed by the eight states, Bonta has an ongoing investigation into TikTok for alleged harms to youth associated with the use of its platform. On March 5, he filed an amicus brief supporting efforts to compel TikTok to produce subpoenaed materials and evidence. That investigation is ongoing.

The 33 states joining the federal lawsuit against Meta include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, 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.