DENVER — On Tuesday, Colorado will join other states in a California courtroom for a major lawsuit against Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook.
The 2023 lawsuit, filed by dozens of states, claims Meta is harming the mental health of its younger users.
The Associated Press reports this could be one of the biggest lawsuits the tech company has seen, citing that states are seeking up to $1.4 trillion.
The lawsuit argues Meta’s platforms, like Instagram and Facebook, have “profoundly altered the psychological and social realities of a generation of young Americans”.
▶️ Denver7's Lauren Lennon breaks down the lawsuit, in the video player below.
It also argues that the social media giant continues to develop and implement “features that it knows induce young users’ extended, addictive, and compulsive social media use.” Some of the features cited include, likes, face and body image manipulation filters, and infinite scroll and autoplay formats.
States also accuse the tech company of unlawfully collecting personal data of kids under 13 without parent permission, violating Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which is federal law.
Read the lawsuit in the embed below or by clicking here.
In a statement ahead of Tuesday’s opening statements, Attorney General Phil Weiser said the dozens of states filed the lawsuit nearly three years ago because they believed Meta was “putting profits ahead of the health and safety of our kids”.
“Meta knew its platforms could harm young people, yet continued practices designed to keep them hooked — sacrificing sleep, being distracted in school, and even considering suicide — because more time online meant more money for Meta. At a time when young people are facing a serious mental health crisis, that is unacceptable. Powerful technology companies must follow the law, and when they don’t, we will hold them accountable.”
Denver7 reached out to Meta Tuesday morning, ahead of opening statements:
"The State AGs may call this a landmark case, but their limited claims are unsubstantiated and their financial demands are vastly disproportionate. The AGs offer no proof anyone in their states was misled, claim benign features like having an additional Instagram account somehow harmed their residents, and attempt to penalize Meta for industry-wide challenges like age verification. Rather than sticking to the facts or the law, the states have instead decided to chase an outlandish payout. We stand by our record of creating strong protections for teens, and look forward to making our case in court."
Meta sent Denver7 a statement when the lawsuit was first filed in October 2023, saying they were “disappointed” in the attorneys general actions.
This lawsuit is just one of several similar lawsuits against Meta.
Earlier this month, a New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay $567 million to address harms to young people from its platforms, with a significant portion of that payout going to treatment services for younger users.
This amount comes after Meta was ordered to pay $375 million in civil penalties earlier in the year, bringing the grand total to $942 million.
Out of the dozen states that filed the lawsuit, Colorado will join attorney general offices from California, Kentucky, and New Jersey in the courtroom Tuesday.
