Indicting Facebook Against Self-harm and Ads on Social Media: State Laws Involving More Than 40 States in a Massive Digital Civil Rights Action

Meta denied the allegations. Liza Crenshaw, Meta spokeswoman, responded to the lawsuit, saying that Meta has already introduced more than 30 tools to support teens and their families and that they share the attorneys generals commitment to provide safe, positive experiences online. The attorneys general have chosen this path instead of working with companies to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the many apps teens use.

The group of attorneys general from more than 40 states were the first to write to the CEO of the company. They criticized Facebook for failing to protect the welfare of children on its platforms, and they called on the company to abandon its plan to launch an ad-supported children’s website.

Regulators have also tried to hold social media companies accountable for possible harms to young people. Last year, a coroner in Britain ruled that Instagram had contributed to the death of a teenager who took her own life after seeing thousands of images of self-harm on the platform.

More than 30 states joined a federal suit with Arizona, New York, West Virginia and others against Meta. Other attorneys general, including Tennessee and Washington, D.C., filed similar legal actions on Tuesday in state courts.

The picture of the company that brushed aside safety concerns was painted by more than 40 states.

Defending the State of the Art on Meta Social Media and the Espionage Act: The High-Suface Response to a Newcomer in the LA Times

Section 230 of the Espionage Act has protected the tech industry from being held responsible for content generated by users on social media.

Legal experts say Meta is likely to invoke Section 230 as part of its defense, but the state prosecutors have crafted the suits with hopes of working around the law, since the allegations center on violations of consumer protection and child safety laws, not particular pieces of content.

Kosseff continued: “Courts are increasingly willing to conclude that Section 230 is not a defense in lawsuits arising from claims about product design, though the line is not always clear.”

The company shares states’ commitment to providing teens with a positive online experience, according to Nkechi Nneji. A number of features have been introduced to support young users and their families.

The attorneys general have chosen this path instead of working with companies across the industry to create age-appropriate standards for the many apps teens use, Nneji said.

32% of teen girls who felt bad about their bodies say using social networks made them feel worse, according to an internal finding in the Facebook Files.

Meta designed the algorithms that determine what users will see in their feeds, in order to keep them hooked. According to a lawsuit, the benefits of presenting posts in order of expected interest, rather than chronologically, is that Meta is able to benefit from what psychologists describe as “variable reward schedules.” The lawsuit says that users are conditioned to stay back and scrolling long in hopes of getting a hit of dopamine from the content they come across.

The Like count is visible to the people who post on the social media site. A hide option is offered, but the tally is visible by default. The lawsuit stated that Meta could have hidden Likes, but it did not do so.

California attorney general Rob Bonta told reporters today that the states know Meta had internal discussions about the negative impact of the Like button, but decided to keep it anyway. He says that today we draw the line. “We must protect our children online and we will not back down from this fight.”