Massachusetts AG Andrea Campbell and dozens of other states have filed suit against Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta alleging “unfair and deceptive practices that harm young people.”
“Meta preys on our young people and has chosen to profit by knowingly targeting and exploiting their vulnerabilities. In doing so, Meta has significantly contributed to the ongoing mental health crisis among our children and teenagers,” Campbell said in a statement Tuesday.
“Because Meta has shown that it will not act responsibly unless it is required to do so by courts of law, my colleagues and I are taking action today — and will continue to push for meaningful changes to Meta’s platforms that protect our young people,” she added.
Campbell said a Bay State lawsuit was filed in Suffolk Superior Court, and that Massachusetts was joining “a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general” also filing similar lawsuits against Meta.
The AG’s office says Meta “knew of the significant harm” its practices, which they allege includes designing the applications to “addict young users… and chose to hide its knowledge and mislead the public to make a profit.”
While Meta is based in California, the AG’s office said that the practices have affected “hundreds of thousands of teenagers in Massachusetts who actively use Instagram.”
The coalition of attorneys general also filed a federal lawsuit in Meta’s home in the Northern District of California.
Meta in response issued a statement that it shares “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 company’s statement continues.
The broad-ranging federal suit is the result of an investigation led by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from Massachusetts along with California, Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Vermont.
It follows damning newspaper reports, first by The Wall Street Journal in the fall of 2021, based on the Meta’s own research that found that the company knew about the harms Instagram can cause teenagers — especially teen girls — when it comes to mental health and body image issues. One internal study cited 13.5% of teen girls saying Instagram makes thoughts of suicide worse and 17% of teen girls saying it makes eating disorders worse.
“Meta has been harming our children and teens, cultivating addiction to boost corporate profits,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta. “With today’s lawsuit, we are drawing the line.”
