(San Francisco) Already in the crosshairs of justice, the social network giant Meta was targeted Tuesday by lawsuits from 40 American states which accuse its Facebook and Instagram applications of harming the “mental and physical health of young people”.
“Meta exploited powerful and unprecedented technologies to attract […] and ultimately trap young people and adolescents in order to make profits,” assert the attorneys general in the introduction to the complaint filed with a California court.
The states, Democrats and Republicans, claim that the Californian group has “concealed the way in which these platforms [Facebook and Instagram, Editor’s note] exploit and manipulate its most vulnerable consumers”, and “neglected the considerable damage” caused to “mental health and physical health of the young people of our country”.
This legal action represents the culmination of investigations carried out over two years into the methods of the two platforms, considered “addictive” by the authorities.
Contacted by AFP, Meta said he was “disappointed that attorneys general have chosen this path instead of working productively with industry companies to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the many apps used by teenagers “.
“We share the attorneys general’s commitment to providing teens with safe and positive online experiences, and we have already introduced more than 30 tools to support teens and their families,” said a spokesperson for the group.
States mobilized in the fall of 2021 after a former Facebook employee raised the alarm about the practices of her former company.
Engineer Frances Haugen leaked more than 20,000 pages of internal documents, insisting in front of various parliaments that the social media giant was putting profits before the safety of its users.
According to Tuesday’s complaint, Facebook and Instagram’s features were designed to “manipulate young users into compulsive and prolonged use of the platforms.”
Prosecutors further accuse Meta of lying to the public by assuring that its products were safe and suitable for adolescents and by “publishing misleading reports.”
While Congress has been unable for years to agree on laws to better regulate information technology giants, both on questions of abuse of dominant position and consumer protection, the subject of children tends to unite the elected representatives of the two major political parties.
“With today’s lawsuit, we are drawing the line that must not be crossed,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “We must protect our children and we will not back down in this fight. »
Tuesday’s complaint also accuses Meta of violating the Children’s Privacy Act.
The States are asking the courts to force Meta to put an end to its practices and are demanding the payment of fines.
Other cases brought jointly by several states are underway against large technology companies, particularly on questions of monopoly.