U.S. states sue Meta for hooking young people to its platforms | Mashable.
Dozens of states are suing Meta for hooking young people to its platforms
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| A Meta logo on a neon background. Credit: Niharika Kulkarni/NurPhoto via Getty Images. |
A group of 41 states and the District of Columbia sued Meta on Tuesday, accusing the tech giant of unfairly hooking children to its platforms including Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Messenger, and pushing them towards harmful content.
Led by Colorado and California, the joint lawsuit was filed by 33 states in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Eight other states and the District of Columbia filed separate suits the same day.
The lawsuits, filed in both federal and state courts, allege that Meta has violated consumer protection laws with "deceptive acts or practices" and that the company has "harnessed powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens." Meta is accused of intentionally getting young people addicted to its platforms with features like "infinite scroll" and a barrage of notifications.
The states also say that Meta consciously markets products to users under the age of 13, who are legally not permitted to use the social media platforms as decreed by both Meta and federal law. And the company is also accused of being in breach of the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) for "unlawfully collecting the personal data of its youngest users without permission".
In addition, the lawsuit also accused Meta of being "evasive about the company’s research" and accused the company of misleading, downplaying, or denying researched effects of its platforms on young users.
"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," reads the complaint.
"Children are particularly susceptible to addictive technologies, and Meta has exploited these vulnerabilities," said Washington Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb, who filed the suit in the DC Superior Court, "putting its quest for advertising revenue over the psychological and emotional well-being of young people."
Phil Weiser, Colorado's Attorney General, compared Meta to the likes of Big Tobacco and vaping companies, saying the company is "specifically harming the health of the youngest among us."
The lawsuit against Meta is a product of a longer, nationwide investigation into the company, in which states including Colorado, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire examined Instagram's approach to young consumers and the "physical and mental health harms" associated with its usage.
It seems Big Tech is facing a wider legal crackdown for its effect on younger consumers. In early October, the state of Utah sued TikTok for using manipulative tactics to get teens compulsively addicted to its platform.
Not mentioned in these lawsuits: The ability and responsibility of parents to know that their kids are doing on their phones.
ReplyDelete😂😃
DeleteJoe bayden kiling innocent children
ReplyDelete???
DeleteMeta should counter sue states claiming they allow parents to buy their children cell phones and don't monitor their usage.
ReplyDeleteSo here is a perfect example of the downfall of our society. There is no such thing as personal responsibility anymore.....someone else is responsible for my shortcomings. So, Facebook is addictive because of what? Its so good people want to be on it? How can you be sued for that? This would open up a slippery slope.....what about potato chip companies? How about ice cream? What about X-Box and Playstation? What about YouPorn and other pornagraphic sites? This lawsuit is absurd!
ReplyDeletea Meta spokesperson told Reuters that Meta is "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."’
ReplyDeleteMorons at Meta never provided clear, age-appropriate standards for teen apps. Just the opposite, they knowingly harmed teens while fighting controls, because $$$. Fuck Zuck.
Not only that, many times I've noticed security/privacy settings on my account, and a number of others (I work in a small IT msp/repair shop in rural Oklahoma), I know wasn't changed, or the owner of the account knows they never changed or been near the settings.
DeleteThey update their privacy and security menus, and much like Windows 10's early days, settings are reset and no word of it till you go looking, again.
I gave up and just locked down my Facebook for the most part, and rarely post. I haven't noticed any of my security settings resetting or changing in the last three years. Though rarely a year goes by and someone asks if I can fix their Facebook privacy because it's either unintuitive or confusing (I don't see why, but then again, usually same people who don't like their Windows Start Menu revamping every new Windows release).
Look, I get it's cool to be outraged all the time but let's think this through a little bit.
DeleteSo... what exactly is the goal of the lawsuit? What is "safe" as a standard? That's not really defined, the word without context doesn't really mean anything.
Even in the article they never defined what they actually want Meta to do. And said that they failed to pass legislation even defining that. So basically... how can Meta know what standards to meet if no standards are offered?
The quote you so angrily dismissed seems like a pretty common sense response from Meta in context.
It looks like they tried to implement their own standards in response to the vague criticisms, but apparently that wasn't good enough. So now they're being sued over not meeting the standards of a goalpost that was never even defined.
Since 2021, Meta has made changes to address feedback that its platforms may be harmful to kids. Parents now have tools to monitor their kids' activity, and young users are better protected with stronger default privacy settings and alerts nudging them to stop scrolling.
Honestly I'd be very interested to know more about how their algorithms work, and if it's true that they are designed to upset people to drive engagement I think that should be banned or at least made common knowledge.....like put a warning label on it like cigarettes.
DeleteSome folks have blind rage towards anything Meta these days, its hard to have a good conversation around this. Getting sued by 41 states at the same time looks intimidating, but as you said, Meta has a small escape here where they can say they tried in their own best effort to address the issue. The court can’t just make decisions on sentiment and if there are no legal grounds to properly charge Meta with, at max this will be a small fine to their billions in annual revenue.
DeleteWell sadly they have a point. Because it's not just Meta who does this. Companies try to get away with as much as they can before rules are in place. And even then try to break them to squeeze out extra profit.
DeleteIt’s only logical for them to do so. Profits outweigh the fines
DeleteFull grown adults are also addicted to it
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteNow do tik tok
ReplyDeleteTikTok just needs to be outright banned permanently in the USA.
DeleteWhat about big pharma?
ReplyDeleteThey’ve already paid the monthly government subscription fee so they get a pass this month
DeleteI understand Meta is an easy target but are they also going to sue soda makers? Fast food corporations? Companies that target children with ads?
ReplyDeleteWhat "kids" are using FB ?
ReplyDeleteFacebook is for 40 year olds selling shit on marketplace, posting pics of their dinner and making a second account in their maiden name after the divorce.
“…and Instagram”
DeleteAnd implies both. Maybe they should just list Instagram.
DeleteMeta doing it's part for 'Murica. Uniting all the red/blue states for a common enemy
ReplyDeleteCan we use them for addicting boomers to sheer idiocy?
ReplyDeleteIt’s sort of a problem with capitalism in general when the ultimate product in social media functions identically to crack cocaine, which is functionally equivalent to the number one opiate pain killer.
ReplyDeleteNo it doesn't ffs
DeleteYes it does! Is this a riveting debate or what?
DeleteCapitalism's biggest fans expect everyone NOT to have experience with capitalism when they pitch them the idea.
???
DeleteDrug addiction is not behavioural addiction, simple as that. Economy has nothing to do with anything.
dumb. Life is full of shit designed for people to get hooked, but getting hooked to the point that it ruins your life is usually your fault, not the shit... or in this case, the parents fault. everyone wants to hate on meta for being this annoying, generally useless platform, but saying it's addictive is like saying chocolate is addictive. It's only as addictive as you, or your disinterested, shitty parents, allow it to be.
DeleteAllegedly. One of their ex designers literally stated they engineered this after he left.
ReplyDelete1-800-POSTS-OFF
ReplyDeleteBoth platforms spam dumped the most annoying shit in my feed today. Good sue them. Suckerberg needs a reality check.
ReplyDeleteI have a dream: that one day asshats looking to give themselves some grandiose moral posture with pretentious lawsuits will be treated almost as bad as those actually doing the purported bad deed.
ReplyDeleteI may even suspend disbelief given my own experience narrowly escaped social media (even though the non-redacted parts of the complaint seem all about accusations of making a product that works). But if you significantly attribute "the ongoing mental health crisis among our children and teenagers" to instagram then you are full of shit.
This is nothing more or less then people complaining about the internet, porn or marijuana and thinking whatever mental dependence they project on people is the cause of an individual's problems as opposed to actually just the consequence of a bigger malaise.
Most definitely, because it's funny when people say, "maybe we should look at gun reform because of mental health problems", it's always "b-b-b-but mah pew pew". But they'll blame everything else for mental health problems (Video games, comic books, movies, TV shows, Supermodels, Social Media - some of the more prevalent ones I've heard during my short time on this Earth) all of these things have been scapegoats for "mental health", and there's never any real plan to "protect the kids", or to increase mental health network coverage or programs. It's just always "I don't like it, so I must sue!" - and then no progression ever takes place, and no real change is actually made on the "mental health" front that was supposedly SOOOOOOO important we had to waste time in court.
DeleteMy thought was more about economic conditions (of course teens today don't have a super positive outlook of the future like those 40 years ago), but yeah that too. I always forget how the leading cause of death for kids is weapons.
DeleteNew meta: sue meta
ReplyDeleteMyanmar is the perfect example of big companies won't do anything until they are forced to. They are not capable of governing themselves.
ReplyDeleteAs someone else has already said, this seems like a dumb take from prosecutors. Kids already have a safeguard in place - adults/parents - who have the ability to prevent access. Arguably, adults are the ones more at risk since they have the freedom to choose, even then it’s still dumb, because they’re using their autonomy to get themselves in this situation and taking that away from them - for good or bad (especially since it’s not a true addiction like drugs or alcohol) - ultimately infringes their rights as adults. We don’t need the government telling us what to do when it comes to things that are ultimately just optional, you can switch a phone off or throw it away, you can’t switch of physical dependence on things like alcohol or meth.
ReplyDeleteEdit; I say that as a person from the UK but the actions of a government from any Western country is a slippery slope to other Western countries.
Kids use Facebook?
ReplyDeleteGrammer lesson:
ReplyDelete"Addicting" is an adjective, not a verb.
Is this a hilarious and ironic joke orrr
DeleteKids are still using Facebook? That's news to me. They might have been able to win such a lawsuit 15 years ago, not today though
ReplyDeleteI don’t know if any kid using Facebook but sure hear them talk about using TikTok and Insta.
ReplyDeleteSo what will happen to all the accounts targeted toward children if Meta loses the lawsuit (like the Lego Instagram account for example), will they be deleted?
ReplyDeleteIf so, that's a bit unfair, don't get me wrong, I do feel Meta hasn't done a good job in protecting children but still it's not the fault of the accounts
i am an adult and my ex was an adult and a big part of why our relationship ended was instagram
ReplyDeleteI miss the old Meta, Straight from his soul Meta...lol
ReplyDeleteThis has been long overdue.
ReplyDeleteLet’s not do “well what about other companies”. Hopefully it establishes some kind of precedent that can be used on other companies. Unbridled capitalism leads to self distraction. A few guard rails are needed. There’s enough ex employees who’ve spoken about how Facebook corporate avoided accountability and safety measures. This is exactly what the government is for. There’s a reason health inspectors exist. As bad and incestious as safety regulars are with their industries, it’s still better then nothing. It’s about time the tech got reigned in. Too many tech bros believe in their hype while taking no accountability for the damage they create.
Just order your data and delete that shit.
ReplyDeleteThank me later.
Ain't nothing more American than making everyone else responsible for your stupidity and failures. Try parenting for once?
ReplyDeleteWhere are the parents
ReplyDeleteThis is actually why I still call them Facebook. They released their re-branding and shift towards the metaverse mid investigation a couple years ago and managed to change the headlines. I’m glad that the investigation continued though, even with so many tech/news sites playing into their game.
ReplyDeleteWhat about tik tok
ReplyDelete** parents sue because they can't find off button or stand up to children ***
ReplyDeleteThis is about kneecapping social media’s ability to keep us connected. The internet is the great equaliser, so it’s quite inconvenient for the powers at be.
ReplyDeleteIt’s easier to blame the platforms that give people a voice, than it is actually to address the issues people are discussing.
If social media companies think they’ll be sued in future, they’re just gonna implement stricter policies that affect everyone indiscriminately.
If you want to get the kids off social media, all you have to do is put all their parents on there. It works much faster than a lawsuit.
ReplyDeleteOh shut the fuck up
ReplyDeleteParents need to actually parent too
ReplyDeletealso collecting data about them
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI know they made it addictive. Meta/Facebook uses Data analytics for insights, usage data, user engagement, etc. most companies do that but not as much as Meta does.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason it continuously survives is because they can sell this data or provide insight to another company granted they pay.
I mean they monopolized social media in a sense.
Facebook purchased Instagram, when they failed to acquire Snapchat they created Instagram Reels, and Threads was created to combat Twitter known now as ‘X’.
Threads was created after Elon Musk acquired Twitter now known as X and fired a bunch of employees who Meta/Facebook almost immediately hired.
Metas boss has a history of being a ‘copycat’ to. Snapchat has Stories so Meta created ‘Instagram stories’.
I could talk about this for hours but I’d complicate things. Read on your own if that interesting (it’s interesting take my word)
Lol ‘allegedly’? It’s the entire business model.
ReplyDeleteNo kids are using Facebook they dumb
ReplyDeleteThey put a gun to your head and force you to make an account and use it apparently
ReplyDeleteMeta shoved their app on every phone sold in Myanmar (and a few other countries in that region) by telling them that they'd pay their phone bills if bought phones pre-downloaded with it. And since everyone now had Meta, the Myanmar junta used it to spread propoganda against the Rohingya minority. Put it in the shaker and give a few vigorous shakes and bada bing, we now have a genocide over there.
ReplyDeleteas I read this on Reddit addicted to it in the same manner
ReplyDeleteI don’t think anyone under the age of 25 uses Facebook anymore lol
ReplyDeleteExactly what I was coming here to say. All they have to do is call a bunch of random teenagers to the stand and they’ll all say they haven’t looked at it in years.
DeleteCan't see this going far. They'd be better off suing gambling video games like Madden or 2k
ReplyDeleteWhy just target this company. Most people I know dropped fb. Insta is still big. But no mention of twitter, or TikTok. All of this social media bullshit is harmful.
ReplyDeleteI attribute it to being a blend of a platform to share your outward and inner voice combined with the permanency of the thought, as well as the ability to share with others outside your control, then the worst part is the ease of accessing the info and that makes it an easy addiction. It’s far more than kids. It’s how we are so fractured now as a society. I strongly believe we created something we aren’t mature enough as a society to handle. It’s the root of what I really think this era will be remembered for. The era of disinformation.
Where the fuck are the parents in all this?
ReplyDeleteIf this actually wins in court then college students should sue every state school for essentially the same predatory marketing schemes !
ReplyDeleteIt's on the parents, not meta.
ReplyDeleteWhen do the parents get sued for failure to parent?
ReplyDelete