COLORADO — On Tuesday, 42 attorneys general from across the country filed a lawsuit in federal and state courts against Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, alleging the company uses harmful features and marketing tactics aimed toward young users.
The 288-page federal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California claims Meta has knowingly contributed to a youth mental health crisis and has profited off of unprecedented technologies to "entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens."
The lawsuit, joined by 33 states, alleges Meta targets users under 18 years old with a business model aimed at maximizing the time they spend online, and in turn, profiting by selling advertising to those users. The lawsuit says the company is taking advantage of young developing brains with features like infinite scrolling algorithms, "like" buttons that promote social comparison, near-constant alerts meant to draw users back to the platform, and filter features promoting body dysmorphia.
In a news conference Tuesday morning, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said instead of taking steps to mitigate these harms, Meta allegedly concealed the extent of the psychological and health harms suffered by young users.
"They knew young kids weren't getting the sleep they needed. They knew young kids were going down these dark holes, and yet they continued this action. That's why we are filing this lawsuit," said Attorney General Weiser.
The complaint further alleges that Meta knew that users under the age of 13 were active on the platforms and knowingly collected data from them without parental consent. Weiser said Meta has violated state consumer protection laws and the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
"We're here because Meta saw an untapped, valuable audience and young kids and they chose to deliberately market to them, ages 11,12, younger than 13, knowing what they were doing, failing to engage in appropriate responsible behavior because they saw an opportunity for profit," said Weiser.
A spokesperson for the Colorado Attorney General's Office said Colorado and Tennessee are the two states that took a leadership role in organizing the effort, developing the lawsuit, and recruiting other states to join in.
Meta sent an emailed statement to NBC News in response to the lawsuit:
“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.”
Dr. Cristi Bundukamara, a psychiatric nurse practitioner and the owner of Mentally Strong mental health clinic in Colorado Springs, said parents should be familiar with the sites their kids are using. She said teaching children media literacy is crucial at a time when social media is so widespread.
"Companies have been researching marketing, you know, forever and they know how the brain works there. They are trying to create neural pathways in your brain and so we should be teaching them that," she said.
The federal complaint is seeking injunctive and monetary relief for the alleged harms caused by the platforms. The Colorado Attorney General's Office also said the 33-state coalition is investigating TikTok for similar concerns but that is still ongoing.
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