U.S. prosecutors file lawsuits against Zuckerberg to make Facebook and Instagram safe for teens
Instagram has been found to be associated with a strong increase in anxiety and depression in children
Prosecutors in 41 US states have compared Facebook and Instagram to alcohol and tobacco and filed a class action lawsuit against Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Corporation, which owns these social networks.
Source. The Wall Street Journal writes about it.
The lawsuit claims that addiction to social media can be harmful to the health of children and adolescents, and that the company continues to advertise them to those under the age of 13, which is prohibited under federal law.
The plaintiffs are demanding that the corporation change the way it operates its social media platforms.
In addition to the main lawsuit filed by prosecutors from 33 states in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, there are several others of the same type. They were filed by the authorities of the District of Columbia and eight other states.
Since 2021, the attorneys general of Tennessee and Colorado have been investigating Meta's activities in connection with the impact of its products on the adolescent psyche.
It was launched after the leak of internal documents of the corporation, including a closed study on how Instagram and Facebook affect teenagers. According to the study, these social networks do have a negative impact on young people, with Instagram proving to be associated with a strong increase in anxiety and depression.
"Many children do not have critical thinking, it only begins to form in adolescence. Social networks are built in such a way that they are addictive. This is a common story when you log in for ten minutes and an hour passes. The feed is endless, and everything is recommended: dirt, vulgarity, "successful success" – all of this can influence the minds of children and teenagers. Since their critical thinking is not fully formed, they cannot fully appreciate what is happening to them, and this can have negative consequences," the expert explains.
Background. As a reminder, the European Union has launched an investigation into TikTok and Meta for spreading Hamas terrorist propaganda.
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