Unsealed Legal Complaint Accuses Meta of Targeting Kids Using 'Addictive' Features

It also alleges the social media giant is collecting the personal data of children under the age of 13 without their parents' consent.

Fact checked by Sarah Scott

We know social media is addictive, not only for kids but for adults as well. Now, a bipartisan group of 33 attorneys general is seeking to prove that Meta (which owns Facebook and Instagram) makes its social media products addictive on purpose.

The Attorneys General have filed a federal lawsuit alleging Meta knowingly creates features on Facebook and Instagram in order to make their products addictive to children and teens. In a newly unsealed legal filing, the states also say Meta received more than a million reports of kids under the age of 13 using Instagram since 2019. But, according to The New York Times, Meta "disabled only a fraction" of those accounts.

The New York Times reports the complaint alleges that Meta knew that all of these users were under the required age of 13 calling it "an open secret [within the company] that is routinely documented, rigorously analyzed and confirmed...and zealously protected from disclosure to the public.”

This complaint was largely redacted when it was originally made public in late October. Now this new information is giving people a better look at the states' case against Meta, providing details from internal emails, employee chats, and company presentations.

The impact of all of this, according to the lawsuit, is the damage to young people's mental health and contribution to the youth mental health crisis in the United States.

Not only have these 33 attorneys general signed onto a federal lawsuit, but nine other attorneys general have filed similar lawsuits in their own states. That means almost every single state in the country is going after Meta for this.

States Listed in the Federal Lawsuit

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.

Attorneys General Filing State Lawsuits

Florida, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.

What is Meta Accused of Doing?

The lawsuit, filed in California, is 233 pages long. The first paragraph in the summary of the case really spells it all out.

"Meta has harnessed powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens. Its motive is profit, and in seeking to maximize its financial gains, Meta has repeatedly misled the public about the substantial dangers of its Social Media Platforms," the lawsuit reads.

It goes on to say Meta has hidden the ways its platforms "exploit and manipulate...teenagers and children." The lawsuit accuses the social media giant of ignoring the damage it has already caused to the mental health of our young people. In doing so, the lawsuit calls Meta's "deceptive" conduct a "violation of state and federal law."

In particular, the lawsuit says the features on Facebook and Instagram are designed to keep children and teens on their platforms longer and longer. The lawsuit names the following features as impactful on kids' mental health:

• Algorithms that recommend content to keep kids on the platforms longer.

• “Likes” and social comparison features known by Meta to harm young users.

• Non-stop alerts designed to bring young users back to Meta's platforms constantly, including while they are at school and during the night.

• Visual filters that can promote young users’ body dysmorphia.

• Certain content-presentation formats, such as “infinite scroll,” which don't allow kids and teens' attempts to self-regulate their time online.
  

Another section of this lawsuit accuses Meta of violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting the personal data of kids under the age of 13 without their parents' consent. A Meta spokesperson tells Parents the company doesn't knowingly collect information from anyone under 13. Although age 13 is usually the minimum age for kids to join social media platforms, a report from the U.S. Surgeon General showed nearly 40% of children between ages 8-12 are on social media.

According to a news release from New York Attorney General Letitia James, the coalition is trying to stop Meta from using these tactics and obtain penalties and restitution.

Social Media and the Youth Mental Health Crisis

Attorney General James directly blames the youth mental health crisis on social media companies like Meta.

"Meta has profited from children’s pain by intentionally designing its platforms with manipulative features that make children addicted to their platforms while lowering their self-esteem," Attorney General James says in a news release. "Social media companies, including Meta, have contributed to a national youth mental health crisis and they must be held accountable."

Some of the mental health issues children and teens are seeing are an increase in depression, anxiety, and insomnia—and it can interfere with school and their daily lives.

Meta's own research has shown links between the use of social media platforms and harm to kids' mental health. It was brought to light by a whistleblower in 2021. That's when Frances Haugen said Facebook chose "profits over safety." She also said that Meta knew Instagram was making body image issues worse among teenagers.

“Our bipartisan investigation has arrived at a solemn conclusion: Meta has been harming our children and teens, cultivating addiction to boost corporate profits,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta says in a news release. “With today’s lawsuit, we are drawing the line. We must protect our children and we will not back down from this fight."

Social Media Addiction

If you think your child may be addicted to social media, there are signs you should be on the lookout for and ways you can help. Read more on social media addiction here.

What's Meta's Response to the Lawsuit?

In a statement to Parents, a Meta spokesperson says, “We share the attorneys general’s commitment to providing teens with safe, positive experiences online, and have already introduced more than 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.”

Meta says it has been talking with the attorneys general about the ways it is supporting kids and teens on its platforms. The spokesperson says mental health is complex and there are many other issues that can contribute including school, substance abuse, income inequality, and access to mental health resources and professions.

The Meta spokesperson also highlighted some of the tools the company has developed including setting accounts to private for anyone who joins under the age of 16, using technology to verify ages, tools for parental supervision, and reminders for teens to take breaks from Instagram. The company says these tools are working.

Related: Latinx LGBTQ Young People at Greater Risk of Suicide

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