{"id":1195695,"date":"2023-10-24T12:25:21","date_gmt":"2023-10-24T16:25:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/?p=1195695"},"modified":"2023-10-24T12:25:21","modified_gmt":"2023-10-24T16:25:21","slug":"41-states-sue-meta-for-harming-the-mental-health-of-its-youngest-users","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/?p=1195695","title":{"rendered":"41 states sue Meta for harming the mental health of its youngest users"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meta is facing a massive class-action lawsuit<\/ins><\/a> from 41 states as well as the District of Columbia over alleged harms to its young users. Attorneys general from dozens of states joined a lawsuit<\/ins><\/a>, filed in California federal court, claiming that Meta knew its \u201caddictive\u201d features were harmful and intentionally misled the public about the safety of its platform.<\/p>\n

In addition to the California suit, attorneys general from eight other states filed their own claims against the company. In a statement, California Attorney General Rob Bonta described the filings as part of a \u201ccoordinated effort\u201d to hold Meta accountable for alleged misconduct. \u201cOur bipartisan investigation has arrived at a solemn conclusion: Meta has been harming our children and teens, cultivating addiction to boost corporate profits,\u201d Bonta said in a statement.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A central claim of the lawsuit is that Meta\u2019s business model depends on holding the attention of young users on Facebook and Instagram, even at the expense of their wellbeing. \u201cMeta designed and deployed harmful and psychologically manipulative product features to induce young users\u2019 compulsive and extended Platform use, while falsely assuring the public that its features were safe and suitable for young users,\u201d the lawsuit states. It added that the company \u201croutinely\u201d shared reports suggesting otherwise despite \u201coverwhelming internal research\u201d showing its features were harmful.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe share the attorneys general\u2019s commitment to providing teens with safe, positive experiences online, and have already introduced over 30 tools to support teens and their families,\u201d a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. \u201cWe\u2019re 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawsuit is the latest reckoning over the company\u2019s handling of youth safety and mental health<\/ins><\/a>. Lawmakers, regulators and other officials have become increasingly focused on the issue, and whether social media companies are doing enough to protect their youngest users. Meta has come under particular scrutiny since the disclosure of internal documents by a former employee turned whistleblower, Frances Haugen<\/ins><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Her disclosures, known as the Facebook Files, included internal research<\/ins><\/a> that showed teens struggling with mental health issues reported that Instagram made them feel worse. The company has attempted to downplay this research, saying that it was taken out of context.<\/p>\n

The disclosures prompted the company to indefinitely pause<\/ins><\/a> work on an Instagram Kids app. Meta also released a slew of new safety features for Instagram, including changing <\/ins><\/a>the default privacy settings and limiting ad targeting features for younger teens. Instagram also added reminders <\/ins><\/a>for teens to \u201ctake a break\u2019 from the app and new parental control<\/ins><\/a> features.<\/p>\n

Developing\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/forty-one-states-sue-meta-for-harming-the-mental-health-of-its-youngest-users-162521184.html?src=rss
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\nSource: Engadget – 41 states sue Meta for harming the mental health of its youngest users<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meta is facing a massive class-action lawsuit from 41 states as well as the District of Columbia over alleged harms to its young users. Attorneys general from dozens of states joined a lawsuit, filed in California federal court, claiming that … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[99,110],"tags":[98],"class_list":["post-1195695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-engadget","category-unfiltered-rss","tag-engadget"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1195695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1195695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1195695\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1195695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1195695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1195695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}