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 Pressreports 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 accuses 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.
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.”
Meta sent Denver7 a statement when the lawsuit was first filed in October 2023, saying they were “disappointed” in the attorneys general actions.
“We share 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.”
Meta spokesperson (2023)
Denver7 did reach out to Meta Tuesday morning, but have not heard back by the time of publication.
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.
A significant portion 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.
