Facebook, Instagram's Parent Company Sued By CT: Here's Why

CONNECTICUT — Connecticut Attorney General William Tong joined 42 attorney generals throughout the country to sue Meta in federal court for allegedly designing and deploying harmful features on Instagram and its other social media platforms that purposely addicted children and teens.

“Meta saw American kids as a ‘valuable and untapped market’—nameless factors on a bottom line to maximize profits. They enabled kids to access addictive platforms riddled with harmful messages built to override self-control that one developer likened to ‘behavioral cocaine.’ Their abusive practices have unleashed a youth mental health catastrophe,” Tong said in a news release.

The federal complaint, joined by Connecticut and other states and filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges that instead of taking steps to mitigate these harms, Meta misled the public about the harms associated with the use of this platform, concealing the extent of the psychological and health harms suffered by young users addicted to the use of its platforms.

“Attorneys general today are blanketing the country in coordinated federal and state court actions to hold Meta accountable for their blatant violations of consumer protection and child privacy laws. Meta’s actions are egregious, but we know they are not the only bad actors in social media,” Tong said.

The complaint further alleges that Meta knew that young users, including those under 13, were active on the platforms, and knowingly collected data from these users without parental consent.

“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.” - a Meta spokesperson said.

The multistate coalition that brought today’s complaint is also investigating TikTok’s conduct on similar concerns. That investigation remains ongoing, and states have pushed for adequate disclosure of information and documents in litigation related to TikTok’s failure to provide sufficient discovery in response to requests by the Tennessee Attorney General’s office.

“Other investigations—including into TikTok—are active and ongoing, and we will not hesitate to use the full weight of our enforcement authority to force this broken industry to respect the law and the safety and wellbeing of our children,” Tong said.

While much of the complaint relies on confidential material not yet available to the public, publicly available sources, including those previously released by former Meta employees, detail that Meta profited by purposely making its platforms addictive to children and teens, officials said.

Its platform algorithms push users into descending “rabbit holes” to maximize engagement, officials said. Features like infinite scroll and near-constant alerts were created with the express goal of hooking young users, officials said. These manipulative tactics continually lure children and teens back onto the platform, officials said.

“Businesses have a duty to minimize the harm their product may cause and to disclose when their product may have harmful effects, particularly on children,” Commissioner Bryan T. Cafferelli, Department of Consumer Protection, said. “Our priority is to protect public health and safety, and I support the Attorney General in joining this action to bring about change in Meta’s business practices.”

The suit alleges that Meta knew these addictive features harmed young people’s physical and mental health, including undermining their ability to get adequate sleep. However, they did not disclose the harm or make meaningful changes to minimize it. Instead, they claimed their platforms were safe for young users.

These choices, the complaint alleges, violate state consumer protection laws and COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule). The federal complaint seeks injunctive and monetary relief to rectify the harms caused by these platforms.