MD, 41 States Sue Meta Over 'Addictive' Features They Say Harm Kids

MARYLAND — A lawsuit has been filed by Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown and 41 other states against Meta Platforms Inc., which owns and operates Facebook and Instagram, claiming that the social media platforms’ harmful business practices are targeting children.

Maryland is one of 42 states that have filed a federal lawsuit against Meta, alleging the social media giant is responsible for harming young people's mental health and has contributed to a mental health crisis among the country's youth.

"A child’s mental health and emotional development help determine how they will see and cope with the world around them, and an addiction to social media disrupts that critical development,” Brown said. “We believe that Meta has manipulated their social media platforms to attract and addict young people, without regard for how using applications like Instagram will negatively affect children and deepen the mental health crisis afflicting our nation’s youth.”

The 233-page lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in California on behalf of the states, including Maryland, claims Meta "knowingly designed" harmful features on Instagram and Facebook that make children and teens addicted to the platform.

Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that Meta routinely collects data on children under 13 without informing parents or obtaining parental consent, which is a violation of federal law. A coalition of 32 attorneys general filed the suit; nine additional attorneys general are filing lawsuits in their respective states, bringing the total number of attorneys general taking action against Meta to 42.

In addition to Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, California, Illinois, New Jersey, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and dozens of others joined the coalition to file the suit. Filing lawsuits in their own state courts are the attorneys general of Florida, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in California on behalf of the states, including Maryland, accuses Meta of harming young people’s mental health and contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly designing features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms.

The lawsuit also claims that Meta routinely collects data on children younger than 13 without their parents’ consent, in violation of federal law.

In their lawsuit, the collection of other attorneys general maintain that Meta’s business model, which seeks to capture as much user time and attention as possible to sell advertising, has targeted youth, including teenagers and even younger children, in ways that take advantage of them.

Brown and the other top attorneys claim that Meta designed its social media platforms to include features that exploit young users’ psychological vulnerabilities to keep them using the platforms longer and that many of these product features are strongly linked to damaging psychological outcomes, according to the release.

According to the suit, these features include algorithms that are designed to recommend content to keep users on the platform longer and encourage compulsive use, incessant alerts meant to induce young users to return to Meta’s platforms constantly, even while at school and throughout the night, visual filter features known to promote young users’ body dysmorphia and content-presentation formats, such as “infinite scroll,” designed to keep young users on the platform for as long as possible.

As Aza Raskin, the original developer of the infinite scroll concept, noted to the BBC about the feature’s addictive qualities: “If you don't give your brain time to catch up with your impulses… you just keep scrolling.” The Attorneys General allege that Meta knew that these addictive features harmed young people’s physical and mental health, including undermining their ability to get adequate sleep, but did not disclose the dangers or make any meaningful attempt to mitigate them.

The attorneys general allege that Meta is aware of the potential harm its products cause youth, including driving impulsive behavior; interfering with sleep and education; and exacerbating issues young people have with depression, anxiety, body dysmorphia, and thoughts of self-harm. Meta’s own research confirmed that its social media platforms are among the worst in harming young users.

In a statement to Patch, Meta said, “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 lawsuit also alleges that Meta violated the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting the personal information of children under the age of 13 without obtaining parental permission, as required by that statute. The coalition is asking the court to enter an injunction stopping Meta from continuing these unlawful practices.

This is a developing story and will be updated.